Hawaii -- on the road to Hana

We decided to "do" the Road to Hana. Years ago, when the kids were younger, we tried it, but Laura got carsick before Milepost 3, so we turned around. This time we went farther... It was hazy, so my photos weren't as clear or bright as I would've liked, but it wasn't raining!!

The Hana road isn't very long (about 39 miles from the start of Hwy. 36) but it is a wiggly, just-barely-2 lane road with (it is said) 600 turns, mostly hairpin, and 54 one-lane bridges. Two-lane road and one-lane bridges? Yep. Hana isn't a trip if you are in a hurry--Hana Road is an experience. There are so many vistas, and shades of green, and surprises around the curves--there are hardly ANY straight stretches of road. There are places where the shoulder is a bit wider, and you can pull over to let people past, especially the locals who know the road and drive like the proverbial Bats.

This was taken from the car--twisty road, lots of cars, a bridge coming up, and yes, this picture is straight! You can just barely see the "Do Not Pass" sign...what a joke! At one place on the road, you couldn't even see the road behind you in the rearview mirror because it curved so sharply, and you couldn't see the road in front of you due to the same reason, and you are on a cliff edge.
One of the bridges on the road. Some of them are nearly 100 years old. Usually there is a hairpin turn right before and right after the bridge, with a SMALL shoulder scooped out for traffic to pull over and wait to take turns crossing the bridge.
Another bridge, viewed from a trail. You can see how the road curves, and continues to curve after the stand of trees--the yellow sign warns you of yet-another curve.
It had been dry on Maui this winter, so the waterfalls were quite low. I was disappointed not to see a little more volume, but they were still really fun to hike to and see.

This one was hard to get, with the combination of shade and sun. I know the water is blown out in places, but this is the best I could do.

Looking west across Honomanu Bay. The line on the cliffs is the road... Due to the haziness, the ocean really blends into the sky, and there isn't as much definition as I would like in these. It was STILL gorgeous!

Looking west from the Ke'anae Peninsula, where we found absolutely scrumptious, moist, delicious banana bread, still warm from the oven. You can just barely see the road about aabout halfway up the cliffs on the other side of the bay.

This is at the end of the road down to Nahiku, which makes the Hana road look like a freeway. It is BARELY two lanes, more like one-and-a-half. However, when you get to the end of the road, there is a beautiful look-out, a couple of waterfalls, and the most spectacular black lava rocks and breakers. Well worth the drive down the road, and probably our favorite place. We didn't go any further, as Rick was having Driver Fatigue and we had to drive the same roads back, just with more traffic, so we will save the rest of the road for another visit!