Palikū to Halemau’u

We wake up to tranquility this morning. It’s a really nice place to camp with a magnificent view. The downside is that the tent is completely wet inside and out as condensation built up. No worries we will dry it later when we arrive at our hotel.

We have breakfast and coffee, pack up our gear and head all the way back up this crater. Before leaving I had to take care of business. I can’t find the outhouse. I walk near the Rangers cabin and see one. It has a lock but the lock is open. To my amazement, it’s a regular toilet. Wow, jackpot. I do my business and flush the toilet. Damn, it’s not emptying. The toilet seems blocked. There is very little water here, the toilet tank fills up but at a very very very slow pace. I try flushing three times and the water empties but my stuff does not want to follow. I give up after 4 attempts as this toilet might need more help than I can provide. Sorry 😐

The scenery is ever changing again today. We are hiking back up a different trail which seems like we’re on the moon at certain points. The ground is very dry with no life and rocks from time to time. It’s pretty neat. We also see amazing colours of red sand in other places. The first part of the hike is not too bad. The incline is moderate. We stop and have lunch at the Hōlua cabin. We meet folks on their honeymoon.

The trail from here is more difficult, the climb is steeper and it’s getting pretty cloudy. At one point we are no longer able to see anything. We are in the clouds. Clouds = Rain. It starts raining but it feels cool so I am not complaining. We have about 5 km of switchbacks to get to the top. It’s quite the workout. I was happy to reach the summit. My legs were getting pretty tired.

We pack the car and head to our hotel. It’s almost a 2 hour drive. As we get lower to the sea level the temperature is quite different. Hot and humid. Our hotel is very nice. We have a kitchenette so we will go get some groceries tomorrow. We take the opportunity to take everything that is wet and hang it out to dry. The tent being the main item to dry. Tonight we eat at the hotel restaurant. We both have the Mahi-mahi, it was excellent.Read more