March 18 - Pololu Valley

We drove to the northern end of the island, hung a right near Hawi, and stopped at Kapa‘au.

We visited the original King Kamehameha statue. It had a single lei, so there must not be a holiday nearby.

We moved on. Before we got to the end of the road at Pololu Valley, we turned off at Keokea Beach to use the restrooms.

It’s a rocky shore, but one young guy was body boarding. He would take short runs and then pull off quick before he hit the rocks.

An ambulance came down to the park, but the paramedics just leisurely watched the waves. I guess it was their break. Or were they waiting for the surfer to hurt himself?

We got back in the car and shortly we were at Pololu Valley Lookout. Views of the cliffs up the coast.

We hiked down into the valley on a steep, hot trail. The hike would probably be cooler in the afternoon, but... oh well.

At the bottom of the hill, the valley floor is a flat forest. Some campsites. Some “no trespassing” signs stopping anyone from walking upstream. We headed to the beach and sat, ate a snack.

A couple men were fishing to our left; I think they were the ones camping. To our right, a family with small kids. A quarter mile away, one surfer. Not many people on the large beach, but it was a Monday morning, after all.

Near the cliffs, the beach is composed of boulders. It quickly transitions to cobbles, where we were sitting. Near the mouth of the river, the beach quickly transitions to sand. Pololu Stream (as the USGS map calls it) flows underground through the beach, a berm of sand and rocks, to get to the ocean. There is no inter-tidal zone.

Eventually, we decided we’d had enough and thus tackled the hot climb back up the hill. Water and shade are good.

We returned to Kapa‘au at 11 a.m. Pizza time.