Waipio Valley – On The Road

The island of Hawaii is by far the biggest island in the chain. It’s also the youngest and it’s still in the throes of its birth. The hot spot in the earth’s crust which created the island chain lies under the far southern end of the island. In fact, the newest Hawaiian Island, Loihi, is now being created in the ocean south of Hawaii, but you won’t see it anytime soon. It’s still 3000 feet below sea level! As the Pacific plate moves to the north and west the islands float away from the hot spot and over time they erode and eventually shrink to tiny specks in the vast sea. So the older islands are covered in rich forests with spectacular mountains and valleys created by the eroding effects of water. But the Big Island is so new that most of it is still covered in fresh lava and it has two, huge, dome shaped volcanos. They’re called shield volcanos because they look like a warriors shield lying down on the ground. From a distance, the slopes are so gradual that they don’t appear that tall even though both peaks exceed 10,000 feet! The oldest, and least volcanically active, part of the island is naturally at the northern tip and it is here that we begin to see the extraordinary valleys the other islands are so famous for. Waipio Valley is such a place. The valley is 6 miles long, surrounded by 2000 foot cliffs and the ocean. It’s remote to the point of being almost inaccessible. There is one road down to the valley and it is the steepest road in America and possibly the world. It’s .6 miles in length and averages a 25% grade. Only four wheel drive (and not AWD) vehicles are permitted to make the trip. We stayed in a small home about 500 feet from the valley road so I hiked it a couple of times. I thought I was in decent shape, but I found the trip back up to be extremely challenging and I was sore for days after! One does not go up and down the road even a couple of time per day. When you get to the bottom, you stay there for a while. The Waipio Valley is a sacred place, even now, for the Hawaiian people. It was the most important city and home of all the great Hawaiian kings. We were told that 40,000 people once lived there though today’s population is under 100. It’s a challenging life. Most houses have no running water and the road that’s there is more horse trail than road. Nevertheless, there are proud Hawaiian people that farm the land in traditional ways and call this area home. The shape of the valley and its position relative to the sea make it a dangerous place during tsunamis as escape up the cliffs is very difficult at best. A tsunami in 1948 caused considerable damage and altered the whole landscape. It is a remarkably beautiful place with dramatic waterfalls, beautiful black sand beach and lush farmland. And a river runs through the valley and out to sea where whales are spotted offshore leaping clear out of the ocean. Amazing! Here’s a pictorial: