PIP: Wedding Week Recap, part 5

I should really call this one the outdoors edition!

We had an awesome day o'fun with our brothers, beginning with hiking the Waihe'e Ridge Trail in the Maui West Mountains.

Two minutes before this photo was taken, I got a phone call saying that my school board had a full time job for me! Huzzah!

Trail up

Views near the 1 mile marker

Looking up the Valley

I look terribly impressed, don't I?

 Due to the rain that came in, we decided to hike back down before reaching the top, but we basically had the trail to ourselves! Where else can you say that on Maui?

On the way back down, heading into the eucalyptus forest.

Ocean in the distance

After the ridge, we decided to check out the 'Iao Needle: the sacred phallic symbol of the Hawaiian god of the ocean, Kanaloa. It's a huge rock that rises 1200 or so feet from the ground.

The 'Iao Valley was the site of an instrumental battle in the late 1700's. King Kamehameha I destroyed Maui's army here, which was part of his attempts (successful) to bring all of the Hawaiian islands under his control. The battle was so bloody that bodies were piled one atop the other. The battle site was named Kepaniwai which means "the damming of the waters".

Confession: I stood in the river. Was that wrong of me?

'Iao Needle

The river at the 'Iao Valley

Attempting to cool my feet off.

Later in the week, Tom, Phil and I hit the NorthWest tip. It has the most gorgeous scenery! It looks almost alien to me.

North-west tip of Maui, looking back inland.

More views from the Northwest tip. This is near the blowhole.

Driving back to the West Coast. Hairpin turns and gorgeous mountain views!