The town of Waimea is on the coast. When we were there, the skies were blue, and white clouds were floating overhead even though the inland mountains were bathed in dark clouds and mist.
As we drove up Waimea Canyon on highway 550, we left the sunny weather behind and began climbing into red rock. On the right, we would glimpse fabulous vistas with the river snaking its way between red cliffs coming down from mist-crowned mountains.
And on the left, we could see the Pacific Ocean with Kaua‘i’s sister island, Ni‘ihau, barely visible in the distance.
As we drove further, the red crept over the edge of the canyon, and we had to stop to check it out.
We stopped at Waimea Canyon Lookout. And we stopped at Pu‘u Hinahina Lookout, although the clouds were rolling off the mountains and mist was blowing up from the canyon depths so our photographs don’t do the place justice.
At the museum in Kōke‘e State Park, it was raining and windy. We leaned against the trunk of our rental car as it drizzled and wondered about our plans. And after we finished wondering, we changed into our boots. This was the beginning of the first of two big Kaua‘i hikes we had planned.
The woman behind the counter said that people returning from Alaka‘i Swamp Trail were reporting hard rain and very, very wet and muddy trail conditions. We really wanted to hike into the swamp, but we looked at each other only briefly, and our heads overruled our hearts. We chose Awa‘awapuhi Trail instead.
And that story will have to wait.