Today, my last full day on the island of Maui, I'm hoping to visit a number of interesting wonders. The first on the list is the Waihou Spring, which I know little about - only what I've read. I leave the hotel at sunrise and arrive at the trail head after traveling a narrow and winding road up the side of the mountain.
The trail starts out in the most unexpected way, through a pine forest, which would seem much more in place near my home in Reno, NV. The pine needle carpeted forest, while familiar to me, is so bizarre to see here on this tropical island. Again, I'm amazed at the diversity in this place.
The trail loops around until it final comes to a steep cliff-side. The vegetation has changed to more of what I would expect here in the form of lush greenery. Signs warn of the danger of the trail from there, but as the trail seems to be well worn, I decide to proceed with caution.
Numerous steep switchbacks allow me to reach the bottom of the cliff, from which I can see the site to behold. A nearly vertical stone cliff is covered in moss and ferns. It rises perhaps 150 ft from a creek bed. Numerous small caves are obvious in the stone face. Probably too small for a human, but I suspect bats and other forest creatures might take advantage of these pre-made shelters, if they don't mind the running water, that is. The spring apparently flows out of the stone itself. It seems to almost sweat out the moisture. At present, the water flowing is only a trickle, but judging by the displaced rocks in the creek-bed and the size of the creek, I suspect that in times of high precipitation, the water flows much more rapidly.
I turn back and head for the rental car. The trail started out with a surprise and ended with really amazing cliff face. I hiked just over 2.1 miles on this short trail, but it was well worth it.
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