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| I can imagine King Kamehameha looking out his window and enjoying the beauty that surrounds this place. |
Our friends told us about this short, but lovely, trek just up the road from the Judd Trail. It would be very reasonable to do this on the same day, but we really wanted to have a low-key, relaxed trip and decided to do some easy hikes on separate days. Gave us time to do other things in between ... or rest.
The main reason for this hike is Kaniakapupu ... King Kamehameha II Summer Home. This is a sacred site to the locals and to be respected. Many people don't want the location advertised to keep it from being trampled by tourists. So, I won't give precise directions. There are plenty of cut-outs in the brush that all lead to the same trail. If you take an off-shoot trail, you'll find yourself back on the road. How do I know this? I explored those off-shoots ... and kept ending up in the same place ... well, different place, same road. You would think I would learn after one or two ... nope three. Anyway, here is the entrance we chose.
The path was narrow and very muddy on the day we visited. Good thing we had shoes we expected to get soggy. We did encounter lots of people on our hike going in and coming out. There were busloads of school children, summer camp, maybe? Anyway, at one point we let them pass us and we took a different route for awhile to go up to the waterfalls. Fun, though, we could hear them sing a song of praise and gratitude when they reached the ruins. On the way back, we heard some express their dismay at the muddy trek.
Mostly, the fauna was bamboo and green brush. I'm not a botanist, but maybe I will be in one of my next lives. I really love plants.
As we headed up the trail, we came across a few obstacles to climb over, or under.
After, maybe 10 minutes, the water could be heard rushing past. There were several points to see several falls. The trail at this point has lots of water pipes alongside that are all heading down to the water treatment plant. To see the water, you have to head off the trail a bit. It still seems semi-marked, but you will reach points where there is no more place to go. Just hanging over the water. The power of water is just amazing. So strong. Lifesaving and lethal. I can't describe the rush of sound.
We headed back down and followed the path to the ruins. Such a beautiful and peaceful site. I am so amazed by the architecture and structure. With nothing but rocks that are fit perfectly into place, the walls were probably 3-feet thick. There were obviously surrounding out-buildings and paths to cleared gardens. Large mounds that looked like collapsed buildings or large burial sites. It truly did feel sacred.
After our silent thanks, we headed back out to the road and homeward bound.
