The Iao Crater - Waihee Ridge Trail

We drove into the large parking lot, but it was empty. Yesterday's experience lead us to getting to the trailhead by 7:00 AM. We started up the trail that follows the ridge on the north side of the Waihee Valley. The view became more impressive with each switchback. There was a noticeable silence except for the chirp of the crickets.

As we hiked on, the sun heated up. But as is usually the case on the wet side of the crater, clouds formed as the morning wore on. By midday at the top, we could be in the clouds with drizzle while the rest of the Island has sunshine and blue sky.

The hiking was relatively easy; the trail well beaten, largely of dried clay and roots. There were rocks though to trip on while admiring the scenery.

As we ascended the ridge, the trail narrowed to a single track. By  about 8:30, the first helicopter flew up the valley. We could imagine their view being quite spectacular. By 9:30, helicopters were passing by about every 10 minutes. It was no longer a silent valley with a cricket melody.

Before reaching the top of the ridge, a young couple, trail running, passed us. By then we were tiring and their feat impressed us to say the least. They had a sweat on, but were able to maintain a brief conversation with us without breaking their stride, first during their ascent and then again on their decent.

We rested when we reached the summit, took a few more pictures, and began our decent.

About half way down the trail, we met a few folks on their ascent. Then a few more, and a few more. By the time we got back to the trailhead, we found about 25 cars in the parking lot and more coming in.

Our ascent of the Iao Crater's Waihee Ridge was what we had hoped for, but the decent less so.

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