Iao Valley State Monument

      After another cool night we were happy to feel the weather warming up.  I packed a picnic lunch and we drove deep into a valley in The West Maui Mountains or the West Maui volcano.  The Hawaiians call it Maui Komohana.   This very old volcano makes up the western one-quarter of Maui.  Since the eruption 320,000 years ago, the West Maui Mountains have undergone a lot of stream erosion.

    This erosion has created the Iao Valley Monument- a foliage covered rock which abruptly rises 1200 feet from the valley floor.   In the early days of Hawaii it was used as a lookout to spot invading enemies.  Today a series of walkways take you across a small river, around a nice botanical garden and  finally up 132 stairs to a lookout (not the top of the needle).  I am happy that I wasn't huffing too much more than some of the younger folks when I made it to the top.

     The valley is one of the rainiest places in the U.S., but today the sun was shining.  However the rainforest was very green and just bursting with flowers.  Our tour guide app told us about the history of the area as we drove.  This valley is the site of the battle of Kepaniwai where the forces of Kamehameha I from Hawaii Island conquered the Maui army led by Kalanikupule in 1790.  It was called the "Battle of the Clawed Cliffs."  It is known as one of the most bitter battles fought in Hawaiian history.  Ultimately it led to unification of the Hawaiian Islands.

    There's nothing but steep walkways and a parking lot at the monument so we drove back a short ways to  Kepaniwai Memorial Park.  This park honors the many immigrants who played a role in the history of the Hawaiian Islands. There are several covered picnic shelters and a number of other structures including traditional Hawaiian dwellings and homes of the people who came from Portugal, China, New England, the Philippines, Japan, and China. It was a very pretty place for a picnic.

We came back to the condo and discovered several green turtles playing in the surf just two yards from the sea wall.  We watched them for a while and then took a nice swim.  Getting out of the water was a challenge today with both high tides and high surf.  We both ended up crawling out covered with sand.  Just like the turtles!  I'm not sure I am rid of all the sand yet.  Hahaha.