Blown away by Maui

Literally!

I was in a recent conversation with some friends about those little known things that people don’t tell you about or those un-advertised experiences during travel.  Here’s a prime example.  I had always wanted to go see Yosemite Falls since I was young.  It looked so long and delicate compared to any waterfall that I had seen before and who doesn’t want to go to Yosemite?  Well, no one told me that the waterfall doesn’t run year round!  I went the first week in September and there wasn’t anything – not even a wet rock at the top.  Eeeck!  To my credit this was before the days of Google. I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences.

As I look back at my recent trip to Maui there were some amazing things I saw, some advertised…and some not so much.  Let’s focus on the unadvertised adventures (some caused inconveniences and others were fun surprises)!

The Pools of Ohe’o and Road to Hana

The road to Hana is a long one, as advertised, but well worth the drive.  My friend Mark and I started at 6am to beat the majority of the crowds and I’m glad we did.  First, while there are amazing waterfalls and vistas along the drive, there tends to be only one or two parking spots at each stop.  If you don’t happen to get there when there is a spot then you are tough out of luck.  We were able to avoid this by starting so early.  Second, if you do stop at several of the lookouts and spend some time hiking around the various areas then it will take you the whole day.  Mark and I didn’t get back to Kihei until almost 8pm.  Third, while the rental car companies complain about the south end of the road it actually is easier to drive and better than the northern route they want you to return on (unadvertised).  There was only about 10 miles of ‘miss the potholes’ narrow one lane roads and then it was nicely paved and little traffic the duration of the trip.  It was great to see the change in climate as we drove all the way around Haleakala.  

One of the many waterfalls

Wai'anapanapa State Park - you'll want to spend time here!

One major planned stop on our trip was the Pools of Ohe’o.  There are so many pictures of people in the pools with waterfalls behind them that it’s one of those “must do” advertised items.  Well, this is the not so much, unadvertised, version.  I had never head of them being closed and didn’t think to ask.  Alas, the pools were closed and you could only see them from high up on the cliff.  I was really glad that we had spent so much time on other lookouts and hiking because that drive would not have been worth it otherwise.  If the pools are your only reason for driving to Hana either call beforehand or be aware of the possibility of closure.

This is as close as I could get to the Ohe'o pools

The positive unadvertised visit at Ohe’o was the hike to the 400ft Waimoku Falls.  It’s an easy hike, although a bit mucky depending on the rainfall, which takes you past  two waterfalls, a huge banyan tree and this amazing bamboo forest.  The trail is about 4 miles long, took us about 2 hours to hike and was really a great hike with so much diversity.  Waimoku waterfall at the trail's end has been closed so you can’t get super close but it is still a really beautiful waterfall.

Isn't this the coolest trail you've seen?

Food Trucks

The satisfaction rating of vacations is many times highly dependent upon the food you eat.  While everything is very expensive, Maui has unadvertised great food.  One local explained the expense this way, “The most expensive islands to live on are 1) Monte Carlo, 2) Manhattan, and 3) Maui”.  While that isn’t totally correct, food is very expensive.  That being said, the food trucks have some amazing food that’s relatively cheap.  One that I would recommend is the 808 Street Grindz in Kihei.  Their pork slider and chicken taco were out of this world, especially at only 4$ each.  The Paia fish market also has amazing fresh seafood with large portions which can be shared, turning it into an inexpensive meal.  #1 BBQ (which I thought was just a descriptive sign but is really the name) in Lahiana and The Flatbread Company in Paia are also good choices.

Haleakala

The weather wasn't the greatest with lots of clouds and rain throughout the week. I really wanted to go up to the top of Haleakala so I could say I had been to the top of a volcano and to see the view.  We took a chance one cloudy afternoon and headed up the mountain.  When we got there the view was basically clouds (see below).  That wasn't exciting and certainly not blog worthy (although here it is).  Next is one of the coolest things I've ever seen, and definitely wasn't advertised. As we were waiting for the sun to set the clouds started clearing and what should happen but a rainbow appears around me!  (okay, actually, everyone could see it around themselves but this blog is about me so hey!).  I just can't stop thinking about what a cool phenomenon to have the mist of the cloud and the sunlight at just the right angles to create such an intense and large rainbow effect.  I'm just wishing I could have grabbed that pot of gold!

The view (or lack there of) into the crater of Haleakala

That's my shadow with a serious rainbow all around.  I wonder what my "aura" is telling me?

Snorkeling and the Beaches

Here is the title reference. People talk about trade winds and that in the afternoon there is ‘some’ wind.  What they don’t tell you is that you will come back from your trip to Maui with incredibly exfoliated skin because you have been sandblasted from trying to stay out on the beach areas just a little too long!  During the week, the winds would pick up by as early as 10:30am and quickly ramp up to 35mph which would kick up the sand and waves.  To give perspective, the Beaufort scale terms this “moderate gale where the sea heaps up, whole trees in motion, and effort is needed to walk against the wind.”  Luckily, Mark and I were early risers so we could take advantage of calmer seas and sand but it did reduce the amount of beach time.

Speaking of beaches, there were some great snorkeling areas on the west side of Maui which are all well-advertised.  The Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve on the south west side of Maui provided for some spectacular snorkeling in a protected cove but it became crowded by 9am and there was no beach.  Honolua beach on the northwest corner was a nice cove as well but the water was really murky and cold while we were there.  One interesting unadvertised phenomenon at Honolua is that a fresh water stream flows in so the top few inches are a mixture of fresh and salt water so the visibility is blurred.  You just have to dip below that to get a clear view. And, that fresh water is really cold so you can’t stay out very long before you need to warm up!

Ahihi-Kinau Reserve

Honolua Bay

Two of my favorite beaches, which aren’t really advertised that well, were beaches which allowed you to have an actual beach area, possibly play with some waves and also snorkel.  Kahekili up by the Westin is a preserve with some beautiful coral and a large snorkel area.  Ulua near Wailea has decent snorkeling (not at low tide however) and some great boogie boarding waves.

Yes, Maui had some unadvertised specials, just as every vacation does.  Some made us modify our plans, some were hidden gems, and all of them created fun memories.  Enjoy looking at additional pictures including the sunset at Haleakala,  more waterfalls and a few others on my gallery tab:  Photo Gallery: By Type - New

Flashback February: Schloss Neuschwanstein

It's Flashback February!  One of my favorite places is the southern Germany, western Austria area.  The food, the people, and the history are all so appealing to me.  Back in 2004 my friend Pam and I went and visited the Neuschwanstein castle as a tour out of Munich.  I love Munich and it is such a great jump off point for so many places that I need to do a blog on that in the future.  I digress...

Neuschwanstein is the castle which inspired Disney's castle.  Interestingly, we American's are so ignorant that if you do a google search on "Disney's Castle in Germany" it links right to the official Neuschwanstein page!  Aren't those German's nice to us? That or they cater to us so they can get our money.  <g>

While visiting the Neuschwanstein castle we looked out a window of the castle across a beautiful lake.  I commented how someday I wanted to see the castle from across the water and I wanted to see the beautiful land on the other side.  This is the view I was referring to:

View from the castle across the valley

Little did I know that indeed I would make it back not once, but three more times and I would be able to stop and see the castle from across the water as well as go back to the castle a couple of more times! 

As far as location, Neuschwanstein is south of Munich 90 minutes or 30 minutes north of Reutte, Austria.  It's an easy drive and spectacular views of the Bavarian mountains and Austrian Alps along the way.  One could totally rent a car. 

Once at the village of Hohenschwangau, which is really where Neuschwanstein is located, you can either walk up or take a horse drawn carriage up to the top of the hill.  The hill will definitely get your heart pumping but it is on a roadway the whole way up.  One major and important factor is to remember to BUY YOUR TICKET AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL.  Yes, that's in all bold.  I can't tell you the number of people I saw get to the top and not have a ticket and either just skip going inside or walk all the way back down again.  And no, I surprisingly wasn't one of those people.

Something else to check on is renovation.  I can't tell you the number of times I've gone someplace and ended up seeing a picture of it on fabric attached to scaffolding instead of the building itself.  Certainly most people have many things they want to see on a trip so they won't rearrange for this but it does set expectations.  And, if this truly is the main attraction of your trip then by all means check the website (http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/tourist/index.htm). 

Once at the top, the view of the castle is magnificent, I liked it even better in the snow (picture from 2012)!  There's a little shop to get a drink or a treat for an arm or a leg but any substantial food is at the bottom of the hill.  In fact, I recommend driving the 5 minutes to Fussen which is an actual town with some great restaurant options.

I would have shown you the other side as well but sadly, scaffolding was up.

Of course, the view across the valley isn't so appealing in the winter!

 

While there, check to see if the bridge over the Pollat gorge is open.  This bridge is called "Marienbrucke" and was build as a birthday present for Maximillian II.  It has incredible views back towards the castle and over to the valley.  It isn't open all the time (snow season especially), but when it is open it is definitely worth the short side trip. In my opinion it is the best vista of the castle in all its glory:

And finally, if you ever get so lucky to see the castle from overhead, as I was blessed to do, take it.  The Austrian Alps and surrounding areas are breathtaking!

Blitz Trip: Hiking thru Arches National park

November was full of amazing weather for Utah.  One sunny Friday afternoon my friends, the Hutchings, suggested that we run down to Arches on Saturday to do a little hiking in the sun.  Well, you never know when an earthquake or something just might crash an arch and the weather was forecast to be just beautiful so I said let's go for it!

Arches is about 4 hours away from SLC so doing this trip in one day isn't for those who like to saunter, or who are concerned with the fact that you are in the car for 8 hours and only have 5 hours of daylight to explore (it gets dark early!)  But, sometimes you need to do some spontaneous things like this for an adventure. 

The great news is that on a regular November weekend there really aren't a ton of people in Arches or the surrounding area so it was easy to drive and the trails, while populated, weren't overrun with people. 

We shot down to Arches and were able to down a sandwich at our first stop while looking at Double Arch. Double arch is a short walk from the roadway and actually one of the more impressive arch formations to see in Arches (in my opinion).  There are two massive arches connected and you can easily walk right through them! 

Next we went to Landscape Arch.  This arch is considered to be the longest arch in the world (according to the Natural Arch and Bridge Society).  I believe it after seeing the arches that the country Jordan was excited to show off (they were probably a quarter of the size of Delicate Arch, maybe).  This arch is also the most precarious to me.  Way back when you could actually walk underneath it but chunks of rock are falling fast so they have it blocked off.  I'm afraid this one isn't going to last much longer.  This is an easy, level, 1.5mile round trip hike.  Pictures were a bit tough in the afternoon as the sun is behind the arch.  Morning light is best to photograph this arch.

The big reason we went was to hike to Delicate Arch (okay, and to feel the sun on our faces).  This is the arch that now dons Utah State license plates.  I actually have Ski Utah - I don't even ski...but that's another story.  Delicate Arch is a 3 mile RT hike which isn't super tough but the hike consists of walking up exposed red rock on a constant grade up about 500 feet to the arch.  On this beautiful winter (well, at 65 degrees let's say fall) day it was great.  It still made me breathe hard, but I'm not sure if that's because of the hike difficulty or lack of cardio on my part. 

Delicate Arch lives up to it's fame, especially in the evening. Several people were there to view the sunset and the warm evening sun light certainly highlights the beautiful sandstone.  Some snowcapped mountains in the background made it even better!

We were able to see Balanced Rock and a colorful sunset as we were driving down to Moab to grab a bite to eat before driving back to Salt Lake.  That bite of eat was a pizza buffet at Zax's.  This was a busy joint which served a large variety of pretty tasty pizzas.  The only issue was that I had a 4 hour drive after that meal or I would have been very content!

All in all it was a great day of hiking and visiting with my friends while driving to enjoy some of the wonders of Utah.  You can see, these and other pictures of Arches under the Photo Gallery: By Type - New or Photo Gallery:  By Location - Utah.

Yellowstone - Where the Wild Things Are

This summer Yellowstone was on fire! Well, not fire like the 1989 fires (which I happened to witness) but on fire as in wild to see all the wildflowers and wildlife that was around.  The stars must have been aligned just right for some reason.  Below is a small smattering of what I saw this year.

Wildflowers
It tried to play botanist and take a picture of each different wildflower that I came across on this trip.  I didn't come close but there certainly were a ton of flowers out this year.  The spring was wet and the sun was out and hot so the flowers really popped this year.  We saw yellow, red, purple, blue, and white flowers (obviously not the scientific name so I guess the botanist idea is out).  My mother loves Indian Paintbrush so below is a small sampling of the various colors of just that one species of flowers that we saw. 

Indian Paintbrush

Wildlife
Ok...yes, all animals in Yellowstone are wild but this year the big game was out in force!  I've said before that I come to Yellowstone almost every year of my life, and for probably the first 20 years of my life I maybe saw 2 bears.  That's it.  Nada.  A rarity.  For the last 5 years however things have picked up.  Last year I thought it was cool to see multiple bear (as in 2).  Neat, I know.  Everyone heard about it!  This year was off the charts.  In one day alone I saw 7 grizzly bear!!  Yep...7.  Can you believe that?  There happened to be a bison killed only a few hundred yards off the road in Hayden Valley so all the grizzly bear were coming to feed on it.  It was amazing!  After watching them for a few hours someone hollered and we turned around and there were 4 wolves playing in the meadow.  Yep...4!  Can you believe that?  Here's a short sound bite of a wolf howling (crank the volume) - boy, is it a forlorn sound. 

So, within a 4 hour span I saw 7 grizzly bear, 4 wolves and some elk and bison as well.  It was great.  I'm spoiled for the rest of my life. 

One of the grizzly we saw (chomping on buffalo)

The next day I was a little disappointed to only see 1 grizzly bear and 2 wolves.  This reminds me of my Taiwan New Year's celebration and how that has "ruined" me of fireworks!  (see post:Chinese New Year – Taiwan Style:  Part 1 of more than one).  I'll gladly take any of these "ruining" experiences!

Wow...It was amazing to see so many grizzly out over several day and the wolves up closer than normal (typically they are viewed at about 1 mile away through a scope).  I saw interactions with grizzly and each other; grizzly eating a carcass (way cool!) and a wolf and a buffalo go at it.  It was thoroughly awesome to see!  I wonder what next year will bring? 

Check out additional pictures under the "New" section of the tab "Photo Galleries by Type."

One of the 4 Wolves

Beartooth Highway Highlights 2014

I had never been out of the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone and through the Beartooth Scenic highway so we did that this summer.  It was spectacular.  Charles Kuralt said it was one of the most scenic drives in the US and I have to agree with the man. 

It took us about 7-8 hours to drive up and back from West Yellowstone to the West Peak on the Beartooth Highway.  I'm a shutterbug so that included several stops along the way.  I'll hit a few major stops and tell you some things to check out if you go.

The first stop was just outside of Cooke City (which is no more than a post office and a few cafes) where there was a seemingly boring stop along the river.  People driving towards Red Lodge will typically just drive on by not seeing anything exciting but I just happened to look in the side mirror back as we passed (no, I wasn't driving) and see the most spectacular view of the Beartooth Peak in all its glory.  In fact, it looks a heck of a lot like the Matterhorn from this view (see below).  I was really glad we stopped as it was a clear morning and the best view of the peak by far. 

Beartooth Mountain

Another stop was at the West Summit area.  Wow, you really are on top of the world at almost 11000' (more so than the official sounding "top of the world" stop which is just a souvenir shop - that's a total ploy if you ask me!). The wildflowers were really out in their glory and the contrast between the colors of flowers, the green tundra, the jagged rock and the glaciers was a sight to behold.  It was rather nippy up on top of the mountain however with a stiff wind so wearing a jacket if you were going to be outside for more than 30 seconds was essential. 

Tundra Flowers

While gazing at the tundra I noticed a white flash dart over a ridge.  Was it so?  I don't know...we drove around the corner and sure enough...there was a mountain goat!  This is the first wild mountain goat I've ever seen so I was super excited about it.  We sat and watched it for several minutes before it decided to take off down a rock embankment out of sight.  It was much better viewing in the binoculars but what a rare and neat sight!  I love national geographic moments (yes, as a kid I loved Wild Kingdom and wanted to be like Marlin Perkins). 

Thank goodness I had a telephoto lens.  I wouldn't want to try to follow him - he climbed like a mountain goat!

One great and easy way to enjoy the flowers and vistas is to drive to the Clay Butte Lookout Tower.  Its a short and easy dirt road through some pretty wildflowers to the fire lookout.  It has some incredible views which is well worth the 20 minute diversion.  It is staffed by knowledgeable folks who can answer most questions you throw at them.  This is high praise from me...I tend to ask a ton of questions that aren't the easy type to answer.

Another stop with a small walk is Crazy Creek.  It is a campground on one side of the road and a trailhead to the Crazy Creek lookout on the other side of the road.  It is a twisty, turning creek that has a broad cascading area to view.  There are two stories about the naming of this creek.  One theory is that the creek twists like crazy.   Another is that an Indian woman lived here who was crazy.  That makes me laugh.  It is a short, but uphill walk to a viewpoint on top of the cascades/falls area. 

Crazy Creek

Obviously I only hit some highlights but this is definitely something to do if you enjoy easily accessing grandeur landscapes. 

Check out some of the additional pictures under the section "New" of the tab "Photo Galleries by Type."