This past weekend has passed in a blur and for the few of you that are friends with my on Facebook, you’ve likely seen the bachelorette shenanigans that went down. {And if you’re not a friend, never fret—I only use FB for personal reasons, but rarely for my blog!} Regardless, I made it to Hawaii and my sister’s bachelorette weekend went off without a hitch—but damn, am I exhausted!
The view from the beach house
After the festivities, I headed across the island to the North Shore where I’m staying with my parents and some other family members. We rented a beach house and although there have been some serious problems {still debating how much I will share in that regard}, it has been absolutely phenomenal to get out of the city. Yesterday was my first full day up here and I decided to jump-start it with a bang: time to hit the trails!
We planned a family BBQ around lunch so I knew I didn’t have a ton of time. But, I did a little research and found a 3-mile loop located within 10 minutes of our front door. My parents decided to join, so we hopped into the car and reached the trailhead by 9am. I chose the Hau’ula Loop which is an official trail as it is part of the Na Ala Hele trail system.
Immediately, I noticed how different the Hawaiian trail system is! Trailhead directions are definitely written for locals and trailheads are just located “at the end of the road.” Unfortunately, if you don’t know the road in question, you’re going to struggle….which is exactly what happened!
Regardless, we finally figured it out and took off on the trail. I ran ahead while Mom jogged a bit more slowly behind me. Dad isn’t a runner so he hiked the loop, but it was nice to know we were all on the trail—somewhere!
The Hau’ula Loop is a lollipop loop that covers 650 feet of elevation gain. Parts are fairly steep but it truly is a runnable loop. I chose to run it in a clockwise direction which I think was a good plan. Personally, that saved the prettiest parts for the end!
Trails here are so different! Not only are they completely vegetative and obviously tropical, but the smells blew my mind. Since there are so many fruit trees everywhere, the slight smell of rotting fruit permeated through super dense areas as the sun intensified the sweet smell. The bugs are also off-the-charts, but I guess I can’t really comment on that since Colorado rarely sees mosquitos!
The Hau’ula Loop is a tight singletrack and the thick vegetation tickled my ankles as I ran. I couldn’t get over all the bugs and was semi-horrified-yet-slightly-entertained when I realized my ankles were also covered with fruit flies. Those suckers have staying power!
I continued to climb and the trail grew prettier. Gone was the tropical jungle and I moved through random forests of Norfolk Pines. I couldn’t get over how the trail continually changed: wet creekbeds to guava trees to Norfolk Pines, all within 1/4 mile!
I finally reached the “summit” and was treated to a beautiful jungle view. While I wished I could have seen more of the ocean, I did appreciate the small bit that poked over the green mountain ranges!
The trail descended fairly steeply and steps are built into the trail in some parts to help prevent erosion. They definitely slowed my pace, but also made me glad that I had chosen to run in a clockwise direction. Going down stairs is always better than climbing up them!
If you go:
Stats: 2.5 mile loop with 650 feet of gain
Parking: From the Kamehameha Highway in Hau’ula, take the Hau’ula Homestead Road and drive to the end. {Road is located across the street from the Hau’ula Beach Park.} There is no official parking lot but you can fit at least 7-8 cars on the side of the road. There are a number of signs warning of theft in the area, but we didn’t have any problems. Never hurts to be aware!
Good to know: Although it was fairly dry for us, I suspect this trail could get slick! I’ve heard that mud is the norm on Hawaiian trails and I found a few sections near the creek crossings that were mad slippery. It’s been raining all afternoon, so I would guess the Hau’ula Loop is almost treacherous right about now. I wonder if local runners use special traction on their trail running shoes?!
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If you could run anywhere in the world, where would it be?