Hiking Maui in March 2012

You can have no doubt by now that we love the Hawaiian Islands. While they are just one of fifty states, they are in every other way almost nothing like the Mainland. The palm trees, warm breezes and gorgeous tropical flowers can be found elsewhere, but in no other American state can you find the combination of backcountry hiking, deep blue waters, ocean adventures and Polynesian laid-back culture.

We were married in Maui a few years back and decided to return as often as we could, annually if possible, to get married in paradise.

Day 1 – Arrive and stay at the Sheraton Maui in Ka’anapali. This hotel sits on a point of land known as Black Rock and has some of the best protected snorkeling and beaches on the same stretch of Maui’s West Coast. Being in a hotel the first night lets us rest up from the flight and be ready to hike.

Day 2 – Stay at beautiful Camp Olowalu near Lahaina and see a Switchfoot concert in Kahului on the East Coast of the island. Camp Olowalu has both cabins and tent sites and we’ll try each as we enjoy sleeping at the edge of the surf.

Day 3 – Get married (again) by Dennis DeRego in a small, sunset ceremony on the Molokini Atoll just offshore from where we were originally married at Makena (AKA ‘Secret’) Cove. We’ll take Dennis’ boat out to the island.

Day 4 and 5  – Hike from the top of the Haleakala Crater at 2435 m (7,990 ft) down to the remote campsite of Paliku at 1,944 m (6380 ft). The campsite is at the base of cliffs that form the boundary of the rainforest that dominates the Southeast Coast of Maui. Few people associate backpacking and Hawaii, and we’re about to change that.

There’s no limit to what you can do in a tropical paradise like Maui and the other Hawaiian Islands. That’s why we keep coming back here and know we’re only getting started. Watch our blog over the next week as we tell the story of another amazing adventure.

Aloha.