During Christmas vacation, I (Andy) finally have time to post some of the pictures I took this year. Leilani and I went backpacking twice when Sonja couldn’t go with us. We wanted to practice before going to Kalalau, so in August, Leilani, the two dogs, and I hiked down into Waimea Canyon.
This trip was also a test of driving the Nissan Leaf (electric car) to the West Side and up the hill to the canyon. Theoretically, it has enough battery to go that far, but we wanted to see how feasible it was in practice, without getting too close to running out of charge. So we started by driving to the Home Depot in Lihue where we could recharge while I returned some items. That way, we had a full charge and a few less miles to go. I’m happy to report we made it to the trailhead without worry, and had plenty of charge left to get home.
This was also the first backpacking trip with the two dogs. They were happy to be outside, but they do have to stay on the leash, which meant I had to hold them all the time. Because there are hunters, I put their orange vests on so they don’t look like black pigs.
The hike starts on the rim of the Waimea Canyon, with some really nice views.
Not far down the hike, there is this metal pole, which I believe is a lookout for hunters. Of course, Leilani had to climb it (this kid has energy to spare).
There are a few switchbacks in the first half of the trail, and the sketchiest parts of the trail (due to erosion of crumbly rock) have been stabilized by some recent trail maintenance:
Half-way down the trail, there is an eroded red-dirt hillside that offers more views. We did see and hear a hunter shooting in this area, so we were glad to be all dressed in orange. We also saw and heard a baby goat in the other direction.
Finally at the bottom of the canyon is the river where we stopped for a while to cool our feet.
Then we continued up the canyon and followed the trail up a side-canyon.
This area used to be inhabited, the rock wall was a fence to hold livestock–probably the pigs that later got free and populated the canyon for the hunters.
The campsites have a shelter with picnic tables, composting toilets, and fire rings. However, there were no good flat spots, so we built our tent down by the stream near the emergency helicopter landing area.
In the evening, we made some pasta to eat and a fire to enjoy.
In the morning, Leilani took the camera and took some artistic photos around the camp.
