We live in La'ie, if you haven't already caught onto that. It's small, used to have a gas station, rarely has sidewalks, and is home from one time or another to people from around the world. La'ie Falls is a hike of variety. It's beautiful and we love it more & more. There are several hikes here, one of them being La'ie Falls.
The first time we hiked here was in the first weeks of being on island. I was still getting used to breathing in water 7/24/365 (A little tribute to Grandma on this fine Mother's day. It seems like she purposefully unlearns parts of the English language just to keep things lively. I've tried to tell her it's 24/7 so many times, but she just laughs) I probably got 1/4 mile hiked out and I was seriously dying of respiratory constriction. Now I get that when I'm in CA, except it's from my lungs shriveling up like a snail in the morning sun.
The other times we've gone, it always ended up that we met someone coming from the falls that said it was weak that day, so we would find a different trail to trek and see where it led. Usually to another beautiful view of our little La'ie, sometimes to a bum hideout. You win some, you lose some.
Well, this time, we made sure to go the whole way no matter what the conversations found along the way. It was a gorgeous day for a hike and the falls. It had recently rained and was still overcast from the soon-to-be storm, hiking weather at it's finest in this family.
The trail starts steep in a jungle-y area with lots of tall grass and mosquitoes. It helps that this bit is at the beginning because I need to practically run through this section because of those pesky blood-suckers. I only got ONE bite on this whole hike. Hallelujah, hallelujah! Living proof that miracles did not stop with Christ and the apostles of old. The last time we were on a hike in these mountains, I received 45 bites... on my right leg. We counted, that is no exaggeration, people. It was death on two legs!
After that though, there's a forest of iron-wood trees which was recently burned and is now in the beginning phases of new growth. Then you come to open-top trail with beautiful long grass, ferns, and interesting flowering plants that has a view of La'ie and glorious windiness.
There is a forest of adorable little ever-green saplings with needles of bright greens, reds, oranges, and yellows everywhere you looked. You can see the beginning of it in the previous picture in the upper-left corner. They were my favorite. And probably everyone's, right? There is no getting around it.
The tall ones are the grown ups of my sapling friends, not so cute as they are ginormous.
After the forest of cute, there's a never-ending archway of strawberry guava trees that winds around the mountain with an equally endless supply of mud. It is beautiful and dangerous. These trees are so slippery when wet, especially the roots that are splattered with mud and strewn across the trail.
Monkeyman, away!
On this particular outing, I was much better behind the lens than in front, but that's alright.
There they are, La'ie falls. The water was disgusting as expected. I had some open wounds that I was not willing to chance procuring some deadly disease I'd have to show who's boss so there was no swimming involved. Just admiring from a safe distance and rock-hopping.
Above the falls was really pretty, there were lots of plants arching over the stream and more rocks to hop on. We couldn't go much further because daylight was coming to an end and we had other obligations to get to.
It was a really fun hike, six miles round trip and a ton of places to stop off for snacks and beautiful views. I'm glad we finally made it and on such a perfect day.
The best part of living here has been the beauty we have found; not only in the wide variety of land and sea, but in the people we have met. We really do love it here and are so happy to have been here for the passed three years. It's strange that soon all of this will be in memory instead of in sight, but I guess that's how life goes. You experience, move on, reminisce, and sometimes forget whether on purpose or accident. That's why I'm glad I started this dumb blog because the times they are a-changin' and I want to remember forever.
Aloha
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