the valley, remember how the air quality isn't that great because of the volocano...
We started off with this great notion to go to the Waipio Valley to do a little hike and when I say little, I mean it was only 1000 feet to get into the valley. The walk down was pretty much a straight descent, a 25% grade. At the bottom of the grade, you could make a choice to go to the right and hit up the black beach or you could take the route to the left, which we did, which would take you to breathtaking views of the falls. Unfortunately, we didn't won't to walk any further after a while, we decided we needed to turn around and head back as my mom waited behind as she was sure she wouldn't make it considering she had a knee replacement in July. Well, as she found out, we almost didn't even make it back. However, before we started the hike back, we felt that it was only fair to let Dylan get out and play for a while in one of the creeks we crossed. He had a lot of fun even though there were restrictions on getting to wet. On the way back, Damien was a trooper. He had Dylan on his back and he pressed onward with only 2 brief moments of rest. While my dad and I lagged way behind. I think I could have made it with better time and less breaks, but I was worried for him. We kept hoping for someone to drive by so we could hitch around, but no dice, we had to hike it, UGH! We should have known that it was not worth it, as we asked people as we were hiking down, that were coming up, if it was worth it. They hesitated and said, ummm.....yea. Anytime, anyone hesitates, don't believe whatever comes out of their mouth next. As they saw us continue to our death, they laughed and thought, SUCKERS! When we got back to the top, Damien was spot on as to what my mom would say when we got back..."you were gone all that time and you didn't even go to the beach" If she only experienced what we had experienced..sheesh
see rock city bird house in the valley
playing in the creek
the hike back up, this picture doesn't do justice, you can see the trail through the trees...
Later we drove on to see the Hilo side of the island. Along the way, we passed waterfalls on the side of the road. That would never get old to me.
Then we did a little detour to check out Akaka Falls Park. Here there were 2 water falls, but the most majestic was the one pictured below. This fall plunges 442 feet into a gorge. Absolutely breath taking.
After our detour, we trekked on to Hilo, where we played in a park for a while. I wasn't too impressed with the Hilo side from what we saw. If I were to live on this island, it would definitely be on the Kona side, for sure. Hilo's average rainfall is 130 inches per year where as Kona is 10 inches..just to give you an idea, Seattle's average is 143...you decide.
to be continued...
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