Travel Diaries | Maui Part 3; Bamboo Forest
Part 3 from our trip to Maui in early June involved hiking through the Bamboo forest while on the Road to Hana. It led to the Waimoku Falls in the Haleakala National Park. It was one of our last stops in the day so we knew we were fighting day light. We power walked to the impressive falls, knowing we only had a short time before we had to head back to the parking lot and took a handful of photos. Of course that was plenty enough time for my husband and brother-in-law to walk under the freezing cold water also. The landscape was enormous and beautiful, I only had my 35mm lens and it still wasn't wide enough to capture it all in one frame. My nephew read a warning about the flash floods at the ranger station before we left that had occurred there in previous years and nervously kept reminding us we needed to leave soon, just in case it would happen again.
On the hike back, it the bamboo sticks banged against each other, creating an eerie sound in the almost dark and empty forest. Luckily I did my research and knew there weren't any wild animals I had to worry about in there, but we all ran to the cars in a single file line, laughing and slightly spooked. Then we discovered a mango tree and had to stop to pick a few fresh pieces for the ride home. It was pitch dark by the time we made it to our cars and we were exhausted. But those mangoes sure were sweet and delicious...