Hiking Poli Poli

My girlfriend Shaina took me and our friend Gabby up to her favorite hike at Poli Poli, a state park with extensive trails through the fog belt of upcountry Kula.  To get to the trail, we drove up through Kula, past the Lavender Farm, past the disc golf course, and through the clouds.  We bumped along a one-lane dirt road...

...and headed into the fog and woods.

We left the car at Poli Poli Park, strapped on our packs and started walking into the forest.

{I especially liked the warning about falling trees}

Walking through the trails at Poli Poli felt so surreal.  The air was thin, cold and crisp.  The trees and foliage and fog all whispered Pacific Northwest.  It almost felt like I was hiking the mountains in Portland.

{"Long Legs" Forsyth leading the way}

{wildflowers were abundant along the trail}

{my new favorite foraging snack: wild Hawaiian blackberries! They're so tiny!}

{Shaina leading the way!}

{Shaina}

{Gabby}

{Thistle}

{It started to get a little misty}

{We came across a huge wild Hawaiian raspberry patch}

The mist eventually turned into a light shower, and we all threw on our jackets.

We stomped down the trail and entered a clearing where a long abandoned cabin stood.

{super creepy inside}

Past this first cabin, the trail climbed upwards through a huge outcropping of hydrangea.

{Gabby}

In the middle of all the hydrangea, there was another small cabin alongside the trail.

{yes, I'm acutely aware that I take the most awkward photos.  You won't see me modeling for J. Crew anytime soon}

We were absolutely loving the hydrangeas.  It was an explosion of pom pom flowers in muted pastel shades in such an unexpected place.

After we had taken approximately a thousand photos of the hydrangeas, we continued on.  The trail really began to climb.  It wasn't a sharp incline for the rest of the way back to the car, but it was steady and unrelenting.

{look up!}

Right before we looped back to the car, we found one last blackberry bush.  I made sure to stock up!

We piled back into the car and began our descent through the clouds towards Kula for lunch at the famous Kula Lodge.

When we emerged from the clouds, we were greeted by bright, blue skies and cheery sunlight.

{fun trumpet flowers at the Kula Lodge}

We ate indoors at the Kula Lodge with a killer view of the west side of the island.  We split baked brie, and we each ordered a dish of the macadamia nut pesto linguine.  Delish!

A very successful girls' day out.