John & Anne Wiley

In the remaining few minutes before needing to return our rental plane for the next pilot, we delighted in a very quick tour of Hāna. On our honeymoon there long before my pilot license, the drive alone was enchanting. We’d lucked out with a convertible and stopped at nearly every waterfall. Often at every wide spot in the road since we wanted to let every car pass because we took turns standing up while the other drove slowly. So a quick tour was ok this time because we saw far more from the air. Like this mystical spot.

3541 Water World

That deep cavern has to be awe inspiring inside, with the roar of water amid moist ancient lava stone. How few people ever get to visit this spot, or even see it briefly as we did? Daunting as the existing highway is for many visitors, it was interesting to see remnants of what is presumably an older road with bridges over magnificent waterfalls.

3549 Amazing Bridge

Even in this quick tour that was mostly above and uphill from the highway, the waterfalls passed too quickly to count. After a rainy season like the one that had prevented us flying here until our last day on Maui, it’s fun to imagine a more careful survey of that slope. Some falls are in close groups with calmer low cascades into soothing pools.

3556 Soothing Waters

Some form into white fingers spreading to caress the rocks in leaps and trickles.

3567 Finger Falls

All too soon we passed the inviting Hāna airport and looked down over the town that seemed barely changed since our drive here some years ago.

3584 Hāna

I’ll spare you the slew of pix as we continued descending along the coast before turning back at the area we’d seen from near the crater rim only a day before. Instead here’s a sample of the beach falls we saw on our hasty return to OGG.

3650 Fresh Falls to Saltwater

Even in the evening shadows this spot begs for a visit, offering solace amid a dynamic meeting of waters. Sea caves in the harder volcanic rock also beckon.

3676 Sea Cave

Some spots bring to mind a slow meandering climb up from the beach into a quiet jungle, where throbbing surf yields to the steady sound and mist of rain water returning in a tumble.

3695 Misty Canyon

Splashes of red flowers inspire a deep breath as my heart imagines a refreshing dive into this pool, and a meditative moment on its shore.

3713 Touches of Red

Rounding a slope toward the sunset, the added light allowed our camera to better show what our eye had cherished all along this quick tour.

3726 Into Light, Into Memory

Minutes later our shadow joined the runway, ending our last GA magic carpet ride over these mystical islands.

3743 Shadow of Memory

From here we’d go for one last family gathering before climbing into a silver jet for magical transportation from this paradise back to the one we call Home.

Flying Moloka‘i, Lanai, Maui

Even the brief part of our flight starting out along the Maui coast was spectacular. But the towering falls of northeast Moloka‘i still took our breath away in this second aerial viewing, and hopefully this hazy pic conveys a tiny bit of that.

3326 Mountain Falls

For perspective, each of those little green dots is a good-sized tree. I believe the one at the right in the pic Oloʻupena Falls, tallest in the U.S. (4th globally) at almost 3,000 feet. It’s eroded a groove in the cliff-face and can only be seen from the sea or by air.

As with this next one, the numerous falls often land on beaches or right in the water (especially at high tide).

3332 Beach Shower

I like to imagine swimming there, then having a refreshing shower in pure water. After that long zoom pic we began climbing even higher where we could see many waterfalls inland too.

3341 Higher View East

Up on the cliff face for example, is this spot few if any people have ever been.

3353 Gathering Falls

Soon we could see across Moloka‘i, with wisps of cloud clinging to the peaks.

3357 Misty Mountains

Moments (and a million pix) later we reached the shore of Lānai, where this shipwreck hosts bountiful marine life. It was actually the YOGN-42 WWII concrete gasoline barge, intentionally beached here after the war.

3394 Last Port of Call

Larry Ellison now owns 98% of Lānai, and wants it be a thriving 100 percent green community. It was sure green (on red earth) the day we flew part of the North edge with no time to land and explore.

3401 Lānai Green

In the hazy distance Lānai City was also green, with the airport tempting us beyond it. But snapping countless more pix we turned back across the water, soon crossing the coast of Maui just South of Lāhainā and slipping between mountain peaks toward Kahului.

3454 Cloud Shroud

Clinging clouds fell away from the steep jungle cliffs. From this height we could see that Hāna had happily cleared too! Nearly all the clouds that had turned us away on every previous flight, offered an invitation on this our last GA flight in this O.U. Adventure. With just enough time before needing to land, we went direct at full power in a slow descent. In no time we were rewarded with even more waterfalls. Some, like this first pic, were at nearly our level inviting a zoom pic as we began throttling back to savor the sights.

3530 Down to Hana

Now if you know anything about the Hāna Highway or the terrain both above and below it, you’re well aware that enchanting waterfalls abound along this flank of Haleakalā. So I’ll collect a “few” of our fave pix from that last leg of this magical round trip flight of fancy, for the next post.