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We woke up to partly cloudy skies in the morning, and not as hot and humid as the previous day. I was trying to decide between three different hikes,
finally deciding on the Alakai Swamp trail. I didn' think we'd do the entire 8 mile out and back, but I figured we'd reach the swamp in about 1.7 miles, walk into the swamp for about a mile, and turn around, for a 5.5 mile hike.
We started the drive up Waimea Canyon Drive, and it started to rain. Just sprinkles at first, but
more persistent at times. The drive up didn't provide much in the way of views, since the clouds hid everything. So we just kept going up and up. As it started to rain more, I had some doubts about doing this hike, but I figured we'd get to the top and make the most of it.
Well, we made it to the top, but then Jean remembered she'd left the lunch in our fridge back in our rental house. It was already 10:30am, and driving back 45 minutes and then back up didn't sound appealing. So I drove back down
about 5 miles to the Kokee Lodge restaurant, hoping they'd have something for us. They did - hamburgers,
sandwiches, and more. While I was there I asked someone about the weather, and the forecast called for partial clearing in the afternoon. So I decided we'd eat lunch here and then do the hike afterwards.
Chickens outside Kokee Lodge
As we ate lunch, the rain started to dissipate. Chickens and their little chicks roamed the parking lot in front of the restaurant. After lunch we went outside and the rain had mostly stopped. We drove back up to the
top and prepped for our hike on the
Pihea Trail.
After the hike, we drove back down and stopped at the Kalalau Lookout. The views weren't any better than what we'd just seen. Next we stopped at the Waimea Canyon Lookout. This provided a great view of Waimea Canyon, looking like a greener version of the Grand Canyon. The skies were completely clear now, allowing for some great views.
View from Kalalau Lookout
View from the Waimea Canyon Lookout
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