Thursday, April 28, 2011

Seven Sacred Pools (The Dreaded "Road to Hana")

I broke my record yesterday .. got 16 cars to pull over and let me by!!!  Yup, I'm the one that will tailgate you if you are going 10 mph when the speed limit is 25 and you don't pull over when you have 5 cars behind you.  The road to Hana is a tough one, mostly one lane with straight stretches of about 50 feet.  It took us 2.5 hours to go 50 miles.  Past Hana on an even worse road is the Seven Sacred Pools at the Unpronounceable State Park.  A short walk from the parking lot lands you here!
I think this is actually pool 2 or 3.  The water runs from pool to pool over waterfalls 20-30 feet high.  This pool is at least 35 feet deep, so jumping off the rocks is the game of the day.  Peter, having done this before, got quite an ovation ... I think it was a dare for the other guys to do the same, as they were shortly climbing up the cliff wall to the top.
Peter and Lauren give some perspective to the height of the falls.  The water was cool, but not real cold.  To get to the ocean end of the pools you have to crawl over the lava where you end up at a small black sand beach.  Last year there was much more beach and much less water.  This year the waves were 15-20 foot high and one right after another!!
The black sand is actually small particles of crushed lava.  Not a good place for swimming!!!  But I did talk Peter and Lauren into posing for a picture.
Peter was watching the waves so much he cut off my legs!!  He probably should have cut off a little more!!
That was it ... long ride back, but stopped at a roadside stand for homemade lemon bars and pineapple smoothies.  Good end to a beautiful day.

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