Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon, on Kauai's west side, has been called the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." When I hiked an 11-mile loop through it today, I remembered why I'm not a big fan of those types of comparisons. Shouldn't a place stand on its own? Waimea certainly did. Yes, it's a canyon, but the tropical island climate gives it a feel so much different than the desert heat of the "other" canyon. Lush wildflowers, dripping plant life, and thick clouds rolling in all added to the drama of the steep walls and red dirt drop-offs.

I suppose there are some similarities...

But the lushness of vegetation separated the hike in my eyes.

Clouds lingered over the distant ridge for the first part of the hike, until they dropped and started sprinkling.

This was pretty typical scenery on the Nu'alolo Ridge trail, which connected the first part of my hike on the Nu'alolo trail, to the second part on the Awa'awapuhi trail.

There's actually a rainbow in this picture. Light showers perforated the early part of the hike. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into a good position to take this shot until the rainbow had already started fading. It starts about 2/3 up on the left, and arcs down across the picture.

This gives you a sense of how steep the walls are.

What I liked best about the hike was how the view constantly shifted, revealing new contours as I snaked around the ridge.

I ran into a couple from Austria, who were kind enough to take this picture at the end of the Awa'awapuhi trail

Light finally infiltrates the Nu'alolo valley.

This little knob at the Awa'awapuhi vista was on a ridge that formed a barrier, keeping most of the fog on the ocean side (right), though it started sneaking through to the valley right before I left.

This shot was taken from the road out of the canyon. My hike was behind the ridge in the upper left, which drops off the other side toward the ocean. At one end of my hike, I was probably about 15 miles from our place on the north shore, but since the terrain is so steep and wild, I had to drive all the way around the island for access (not that far really -- maybe about 60 miles).