Big Island, Hawai'i (Day Four): Waipi’o Valley & Akaka Falls
If you missed Day Three of our honeymoon trip to Hawai’i, go read about it here.
Long time, no see. I’ve taken about a year off from blogging, as I’ve been too busy getting my PhD to write about anything other than literature (if you want to keep up with life updates, I recommend signing up for my newsletter at the bottom of this page). But I’m setting aside some time to catch up on all my travels over the past year, beginning with the rest of my and Ryan’s belated-honeymoon trip to Hawai’i last summer.
Note: As of 2/25/22, all access to Waipi’o Valley and its hiking trails is prohibited due to unsafe geologic conditions along the access road. So don’t try this hike until it’s safe again!
Our fourth day began at Waipi’o Valley, or the Valley of the Kings. Aptly named, the valley was the home for Hawaiian alibi (royalty) and the boyhood home of Kamehameha I (one of the central figures in Hawaiian history); in 1780, this valley was where King Kamehameha gained the support of the war god and set out to unite the Hawaiian islands under his rule. The valley was once heavily populated; however, the 1946 tsunami destroyed most of the community. Now, there are still a small number of people living in the valley, and it’s important to remember that you are entering their community when visiting this trail. The hike to the famous Hi'ilawe Falls is on private property and should not be attempted.
The hike to the beach at the bottom of Waipi’o Valley and back is only about 3 miles - so what makes it so difficult? The road down to the beach is at an average grade of 25%, which some surveys recording sections at 30%, one spot even at 39% grade. It’s in contention as one of the steepest roads in the world, and it places a major strain on your knees and quads to hike down it. Plus, you’re moving to the side anytime a car comes down, risking slipping in mud.
So why not just drive it? Well, you can - if you have adequate 4wd. But the catch is, almost every rental car agreement will prohibit driving down this road. You can, however, pay for a ride down on a shuttle.
We opted to save the $100 and just hike down; after all, we’re young and during COVID, we don’t love the risk of being in a small enclosed space with strangers. I don’t exaggerate when I say this hike down was grueling. My legs were shaking. I slipped and covered my legs in mud trying to take a photo. But just look at those views!
Once we were on even ground again, we thought the worst was over. But it had rained enough that day (and every day before) that the dirt road out to the beach was mostly giant pools of water and mud. Below is a photo of a now infamous bamboo fence I tried to use as a support to get around the mud and water. It detached as I was holding onto it, and I was left to (Scooby-Doo style) walk while bending backwards over the water.
After a lot of hard work, we finally arrived at the black stone beach and hung out by the river for a little while. There were families having barbecues, and it seemed like the perfect spot to chill out for several hours. As for us, we still had another hike to do today, so we ate some chips and crab dip, then headed back up the road. This was by far the worse half of the hike. It was raining, which cooled us off a little bit, but made the road slippery in sections. By the end, I couldn’t tell what was sweat and what was rain - but I was drenched. I was very glad for a change into dry clothes once we got back to the car.
On our drive back to our Airbnb in Pahoa, we stopped at Akaka Falls State Park. This park is named for the free-falling Akaka Falls, which plunges 442 feet. It’s a stunning waterfall and the easy hike descends through quintessential lush Hawaiian rainforest, with canyon trees and massive monstera leaves. This was one of the few hikes we did that cost money and was definitely more touristy than I’d like, but I’d say it was worth it.
We ended our fourth day and last full day on the Big Island with a walk on a local black sand beach in Pahoa. It was a clothes-optional beach, which we learned we saw a naked old man casually walking into the surf. The waves were huge here, and we really loved watching a local teenager wave-jumping (he basically paddled straight into the wave and threw himself off the crest, getting enough air to do flips).
Up next: Lava Tree State Monument & Pana’ewa Rainforest Zoo!