Travel Blog #163 – East Maui Adventure With Hike Maui.

We decided to go for a hiking adventure with Hike Maui through the Wailele Permaculture farm and the surrounding park areas and waterfalls. We met our guide in Kahului at the Park & Ride parking lot. He introduced himself and then passed out some fresh apple bananas to us as we loaded into the van. Once we were all loaded in the van he started it up and we began to make our way down the north shore into the rain forests of the east side of the island. It took a little more then half an hour until we made it to the trailhead of our hike. Once here we got out of the van and our guide began passing out backpacks and water bottles to everyone.

It was a beautiful Maui day. The light variable winds from the South kept the weather on the North Shore to a minimum, it was a clear day with sunny skies and an occasional light breeze that was too light to feel, but could be heard rustling through the forest as we hiked along. We started out along the bottom edge of the farm and then worked our way to the upper pools where we stopped to take a swim and eat lunch.

Our guide Jake was amazing. He explained that his father was very close to 100% Hawaiian and his mother was a French Canadian. He told about of his childhood where he grew up living off the grid on the island of Molokai. His other job besides guiding for Hike Maui was working as a Hawaiian History Professor at the college. His background has provided him with a wealth of information and he was not shy about sharing his knowledge during the hike.

Jake showed us how to make a field dressing for a wound with the core of a ginger plant. He showed us how to harvest a variety of fruits & plants which he was continually passing out to us to try for ourselves. He showed us how to safely climb trees that had no branches and were too big to fit your hands around. He showed us how his uncle taught him how to make a pig snare using only a rope that he wove from the fibers he collected from the inside of a Hau tree and a bent over guava tree. In addition to all of Jakes demonstrations he also shared all kinds in information with us about the details of ancient Hawaiian culture. He told us about the Kapu system and explained how the Hawaiians would divide their lands in large pie shaped pieces called an Ahupuaa that extended from the top of the mountain all the way down to the sea. All the knowledge that Jake shared with us really kept the trip entertaining throughout.

By the time we got back to the vans at the end of the trip everyone seemed to begin to be getting tired. As we all piled in everyone had these semi worn out looking smiles on their faces from the days adventures. Hiking through the forest and swimming in the rainforest pools with Hike Maui was a great adventure!