Tag: Hawaii

Rainforest of tree ferns: prehistoric scenery on a forbidden trail

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

The last (for now!) blogpost of our Hawaiian adventures is about a pretty but also somewhat uncanny rainforest on Puna side of the Big Island that we explored using Ka-hau-a-Le’a trail, which is no longer recommended for visits by authorities and is officially closed. However, it is definitely among the most interesting hikes that I’ve done in my life thanks to a combination of several factors. The guidebook ‘Hawaii, the Big Island Revealed‘ was our inspiration again.

The day was rainy but very warm, appropriately for a tropical rainforest and that part of the island of Hawaii particularly, so the most appropriate attire was just our bare skin – you know it’s my favorite one anyways!

naturist 0000 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

So, I kept my clothes (i.e., only shorts on that day) dry in the backpack for later 🙂

naturist 0001 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

Given that the trail is formally closed and conditions were muddy, we didn’t expect to see many hikers (and we didn’t see any at all). Another indication for the lack of other visitors came from the fact that there were quite a few spider webs on the trails.

spider 0000 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

Among more pleasant sightings were bamboo orchids. These are quite tall (taller than human) free-standing plants, which is unusual for orchids.

Bamboo orchid 0000 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

But their flowers were very pretty, typically for orchids, and raindrops only added more charm to them.

Bamboo orchid 0001 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

There were a lot of differnet plants,

view 0000 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

plants literally growing on top of each other,

plants 0001 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

as you might expect from a rainforest, albeit not a very tall one.

However, one plant growing in abundance there was much taller than its kind that I’m used to.

naturist 0002 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

I’m talking about tree ferns, which made this forest look prehistoric. There was no sign of dinosaurs, however, only naked cavemen perhaps 😉

naturist 0005 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

Walking under ferns was unusual and their inwrought leaves looked pretty from below.

plants 0000 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

Too bad they didn’t protect from the rain as good as these ones.

plants 0002 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

One shouldn’t look up all the time in that forest thought, as the trail is strenuous and is full of roots sticking off the ground.

view 0001 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

Well, some roots were so hight above the ground that you’d just walk under them!

naturist 0003 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

This variety of plant forms inspired Tod to make a photo of me being one with the tree!

naturist 0004 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

We didn’t see any animals besides a couple of bugs and spiders, but we did see a lot of footprints of humans and dogs; in combination with the soft drizzle and exceptional quietness, all this gave the forest somewhat mysterious aura. We were happy to see that the trail was frequently tagged by orange straps.

view 0002 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

After two and half hours or so, Tod decided to go back to the car, but I wanted to continue till the edge of the forest. Yes, the forest was supposed to end in an hour and give a view of a lava field and an active and fuming Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent. Pretty soon after we parted, I got to this narrow but deep (a few meters) crack crossing the trail – a sure sign of recent geological activity in the area!

view 0003 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

And much sooner than I expected from the guidebook’s description, the forest ended indeed, with another, much more impressive sign of geological activity – a lava field!

view 0004 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

Actually, the forest edge didn’t only appear earlier than in the guidebook, which was published in 2005, but also earlier than in both Google and Apple maps! So the must have come from a relatively fresh eruption. In fact, it was somewhat steaming, but I couldn’t tell whether it was because the lava was still warm after eruption or just got warm in the sun earlier in the day, which would be enough to make the cooler drizzle turn into fog by the surface. But of course I didn’t want to test just how fresh the lava was! I could also see numerous fallen trees with their bases burnt. Due to the foggy conditions, I couldn’t see the vent itself, but the view of the relatively fresh lava field and the devastation it cause was impressive enough!

view 0005 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

Someone must have made this pretty menacing “monument” with a pig skull…

view 0006 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

Well, the message was clear – I shouldn’t go any further. So, I turned back after a short lunch break. The dramatic ambience of the place must have influenced my thinking, and on the way back I got quite worried about the numerous (and pretty big!) dog footprints and even had some unpleasant flash visions of finding Tod attacked by dogs and then getting chased myself. But the forest was the same quiet.

view 0007 Ka-hau-a-Le'a tree fern trail, Hawaii, USA

It took me one hour from the edge of the forest to branching that lead to emergency helipad and 3 hours total to the car. I was happy to see that Tod made it back in one piece! However, my worry wasn’t entirely ungrounded – he did see 5 greyhounds on the trail, but apparently they were even more scared from the encounter and ran away quickly… Also, just a couple of minutes before my arrival, Tod had a convo with a local ranger, who came to the trailhead and amongst other things complained about “that blue book” that gave tourists all the wrong ideas 😉

Natural steam rooms: traditional naturist pastime reinvented

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Saunas provide an easy opportunity to have a naturist experience to laypeople and are among favorite pastimes for hardcore naturists as well, but there is a hidden and unique (please let me know, if it isn’t!) place on the Hawaii island that brings it to the next level: a combination of geothermal steam vents, small caves and lush greenery creates the most natural and idyllic steam room imaginable!

Again, I found out about this natural wonder thanks to the guidebook ‘Hawaii, the Big Island Revealed‘ – and it would be hard to know about it otherwise, as it is on private land whose owner by no means seems to want to advertise it. Luckily, he doesn’t seem to mind the visitors much either, and the place is accessible for those in the know 😉 The guidebook also noted that locals enjoy the natural steam in their altogethers, as nature intended. 

So, these natural “steam rooms” are located in the otherwise not very notable forest north of intersection of Kamaili Rd and Pahoa Kalapena Rd.

view 0000 steam vents, Hawaii, USA

You’ll have to guess where the trails are, as they are not very distinguishable in the beginning but get better by the steam rooms.  Some of those are hard to notice behind the plants,

view 0003 steam vents, Hawaii, USA

but you’ll sense the heat and see the steam. Now, how is this for a steam room?

naturist 0000 steam vents, Hawaii, USA

An individual cabin adorned with ferns and orchids!

If you’re with a bigger group AND have a ladder, you may go for this steaming hole in the ground!

view-0004-steam-vents,-Hawaii,-USA

 

Next to it, there was a small cave with a ladder installed already. Then, I noticed steam coming above a meadow below.

view 0001 steam vents, Hawaii, USA

I went down there and took a chance for using the space for my personal hot nude yoga session (based on Bikram yoga sequences I used to do 2 years ago). This was a unique opportunity to do hot yoga in an open-air space, and it felt amazing.

view 0002 steam vents, Hawaii, USA

As darkness fell, I was staring at the first stars, and, getting warmed up by the heat from the depth of our planet, I couldn’t help thinking of being one with our vast universe, and my nakedness only facilitated the feeling. The lush vegetation around and the chorus of crickets and coquí frogs also reminded me that we were lucky to be in the part of the universe suitable for life; and I personally felt very lucky to be in that particular part of the universe that made me feel life was amazing!

Kalani resort, tide pools and black sand beach (Hawaii)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Kalani retreat center was our base on Puna side of Hawaii island. Tod had been there before and loved it.

The painting in our room set our mood for another naturist adventure 🙂

painting 0000 Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

As we arrived late in the evening, we were welcomed by a chorus of coquí frogs.

It’s an invasive species introduced from Puerto Rico, but I loved the ambient sound they provided (and to their defense, they haven’t really brought any harm to local ecology as far as I know). I managed to track down one of coquí frogs near the pool, which was impossible according to Tod – not if you’re a zoologist like me 😀

coqui frog 0000 Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

After that, we relaxed in the sauna, and then Tod did a Watsu session for me (“a form of aquatic bodywork used for deep relaxation and passive aquatic therapy… in which a practitioner gently cradles, moves, stretches, and massages a receiver in chest-deep warm water”). Needless to say, we were naked, and the setting – warm humid air, dark starry sky, accompanied by frogs chorus – was perfect for total relaxation!

In the morning we were greeted by another cute guest, a brightly colored but naked gecko.

gecko 0001 Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

So it felt only more appropriate to do our morning stretch in the buff, and there was even a statue for inspiration 😉

naturist 0000 Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

However, after we finished our stretch, a worker came to us and told that apparently we were only allowed to be naked by the pool and another remote area. We could only guess why within the same premises it was ok to take off your clothes at one spot but not at another just 50m away. Tod’s speculation is that as Kalani is becoming more mainstream, they have to adapt to mainstream public, which includes restrictions on your attire.  Oh well, it wasn’t like we planned to spend too much time at the resort itself. We left to Kapoho tide pools after that.

On the trail to the tide pools we saw this tree with interesting fruit,

tree 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

but the most interesting stuff awaited us under water.

view 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

Kapoho tide pools are popular among snorkelers thanks to crystal clear water, and we could see how clear it was from above.

view 0001 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

The only thing that interfered with water’s transparency was… water, just of different temperature. There were a few geothermal springs coming out, and at everything looked blurred where their water was mixing with water from the ocean.

water 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

Although Kapoho tide pools is not an official naturist spot, to swim in au naturel I used a technique I developed at the Red Sea coral reefs in Israel, and then in Akumal in Mexico – just put your swimming trunks around your shoulder 😉

naturist 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

The corals there were not nearly as bright as at the Red Sea, but some rocks were covered with colorful moss animals.

algae, corals, moss animals 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

Another invertebrate that was abundant there was sea cucumber.

sea cucumber 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

But numerous vivid coral fishes were of course the main attraction.

fish 0002 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

Unicornfish was probably my favorite.

unicornfish 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

There was at least a couple of species of unicornfish, and besides the unicorn

unicornfish 0002 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

they were decorated with adornments on the tail and stylish make-up.

unicornfish 0001 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

It was a lot fun to navigate in the labyrinth of corals and rocks of Kapoho tide pools, and we got lost twice (lost in a sense that we didn’t know how to get to the main, deepest path). And then we also got lost in the fish.

fish 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

An impressive shoal of striped wish surrounded us all of a sudden and didn’t seem to be bothered by us swimming next to them.

fish 0001 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

But not all are so conspicuous at the coral reef. Needlefish is hard to spot and they usually don’t come too close.

needle fish 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

And this one we almost missed altogether. Can you actually spot what it is?

flatfish 0000 Kapoho tide pools, Hawaii, USA

The first reader who sees and guesses what it is on the photo above, besides sand and rocks, will get a print of any photo from this blogpost! (Maybe you’ll choose this photo? It’d be a nice background picture.) I guess I’m starting a new tradition. Comment here!

On the way from Kapoho, we stopped at the pandan forest. Pandans looked quite peculiar with their adventitious roots, which in turn made me feel adventurous and want to climb them (no particular logic, just like I wanted to do push ups on the cypress roots in Mississippi swamp forest 😀 )

naturist 0001 forest near Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

And I don’t know what it was about that forest, maybe the light, but I think I look particularly good on the photos from there. Another contender for your printout choice? 😉

naturist 0000 forest near Kalani resort, Hawaii, USA

The next stop was something that I’d been dreaming to visit for a long time – a beach with black sand! There are just a few black sand beaches in the world, and Kehena on the island of Hawaii is certainly among the most picturesque beaches.

naturist 0000 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

The first thing you’d want to do on that sand is simply to lie down and enjoy its velvet softness, which I did too with great pleasure.

naturist 0003 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

I got a new dog friend while his owner was body surfing.

naturist 0001 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

That sand really feels (and looks) nice on the skin.

naturist 0005 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

Well, if you read this blog, you’d know that I wouldn’t be lying for too long. The rocks at surrounding the beach with tree roots coming all the way down from the top seemed too tempting to climb.

naturist 0010 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

And there I was, bouldering in the buff 🙂

naturist 00 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

It may not look that high on pictures, but it was quite scary to look down.

naturist 0011 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

Then we discovered a horizontal bar hanging on the tree. I’m always up for some pull-ups!

naturist-pull-ups-Kehena-black-sand-beach,-Hawaii,-USA

Then we chatted with a local owner of a small coffee plantation, who claimed that his coffee is even better than famous one from Kona side of the island. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a chance to test that, but it was nice talking to him, as he also assured there were quite a few nudist groups in the area – something to keep in mind for the next time 😉

I thought yoga would be the best to finish the day at the beach.

naturist yoga 0002 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

With such a nice sand there was no need for mat,

naturist yoga 0001 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

and I followed the rhythm of ocean wave alternating between poses.

naturist yoga 0007 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

Fresh and at the same time very warm air was perfect for stretches –

naturist yoga 0004 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

“pigeon”, all the way to the front

naturist yoga 0006 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

and “camel” – all went well deep.

naturist yoga 0005 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

After some twisting,

naturist yoga 0009 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

it felt right to finish off with balancing in the tree pose on the coconut palm tree stump.

naturist yoga 0010 Kehena black sand beach, Hawaii, USA

I so much look forward to coming back to this beach again!

Beach #67, much more interesting than it sounds (Hawaii)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

view 0004 beach 67, Hawaii, USAHope you didn’t think that my story about the Big Island, Hawaii, ended at the beach next to Kona airport 😉 The island is indeed big and very diverse. Even this beach at Kona side of the island looked totally different from Makalawena. It’s a cozy cove with yellow sand surrounded by black rocks and trees.

view 0003 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

It’s called after the electric pole #67 by Old Puako Road where you’d have to stop to get to the beach. I doubt you could find a label that would wholly reflect the atmosphere of this spot in any case, so never mind the numeric name of the beach.

view 0002 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Upon arrival, I first had a short walk, enjoying the views from the rocks.

view 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Meanwhile, my friend Tod started snorkeling already.

naturist 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

He saw a turtle pass by next to him, and although I’d seen a few sea turtles before, I was looking forward to seeing them here, in shallow and clear waters.

naturist 0001 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Coming down to water, I noticed a pretty stunning example of fossilized life –

fossils 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

– white snail shells encrusted into black lava. Crabs were on contrary black… and alive! 🙂

black crab 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Even more life could be seen under water. I couldn’t identify this kind of fish,

fish 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

but just as I reached Tod, we saw the fish that we both were eager to find –

reef triggerfish humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, or reef triggerfish in simple English – the state fish of Hawaii (the concept of state fishes was totally new to me btw).

reef triggerfish humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa 0001 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

After that, we saw pretty big shoals of yellow tangs and many other fishes,

yellow tang 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

including pufferfish

pufferfish 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

and moray eel.

moray eel 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Besides snorkeling and sunbathing,

naturist 0002 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

this place seemed good for climbing trees, because the trees had a lot of horizontal branches. However, I managed to fall from a tree and even hit another branch on the way to the ground, maybe exactly because it seemed so easy to climb trees there and it made me less cautious. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt seriously and after a pause I was back on the trees again.

naturist 0004 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

This time I made sure to have at least 3 points of support

naturist 0005 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

or even held myself with all fours.

naturist 0006 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Later in the afternoon, several quails came by;

quail 0000 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

they seemed to be totally accustomed to humans. In case you forget your beach snack, you may be lucky to find their eggs (quail eggs don’t have salmonella and are even safe to eat raw), but we didn’t see any.

quail 0001 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

While sunbathing before our departure, I was going though the guidebook and picking locations for our next adventures at Puna side of the island. Stay tuned!

naturist 0003 beach 67, Hawaii, USA

Makalawena beach by Kona airport, welcome to Hawaii

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

view 0000 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

After Maui, I headed to the island of Hawaii aka Big Island. It was a real pleasure to see my first destination on the island – a beautiful secluded beach called Makalawena – from the airplane upon approach to Kona airport. It came highly recommended by two friends, and my guidebook (‘Hawaii, the Big Island Revealed‘) said that it was “the choicest beach on the island [to many who]… don’t mind walking to it”.

view 0001 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

It looked very pretty from the air, with its clear turquoise water, white sand and coconut palm-trees… but I could also see a pretty long road and trails going through black lava field that lead to it! The book certainly had the point, but there was another promising note, which I have to cite here, as it’s quite funny:

By the way, because it’s so isolated, people sometimes travel light to this beach, omitting such extraneous things as their bathing suits. (Yeah, that must be the reason.)

view 0002 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

Although I certainly didn’t travel light to this beach – I was carrying all my luggage, two backpacks with me – I still didn’t plan on using my bathing suit, and in fact I got naked as soon as I got on the trail to the beach.

naturist 0000 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

Here, special thanks goes to AJ, my new local friend, who was introduced to me by my other friend and ‘burner’ campmate also called AJ. He drove me to the beach as close as he could and promised to come and join me after work. I still had to walk 2 miles by the unpaved road and a trail towards the beach, but it was a nice hike.

view 0003 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

The lava field that this road went through was old enough to give out to vegetation. To my surprise, the landscape looked somewhat like african savanna.

view 0004 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

But instead of Kilimanjaro, Mauna Loa volcano dominated the landscape here.

cardinal 0000 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

Closer by the ocean, the vegetation turned into a dense but dry forest with numerous birds, among which I recognized cardinals.

view 0005 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

There was a couple of small beaches and hardly any people; one of the beaches had warning sign saying it was private property, and it looked like there was a campground.

view 0006 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

When I arrived to the biggest beach, it was all mine, and throughout the day barely more than a dozen people appeared there. One of them, started talking to me, and it turned out he used to work in my native Ukraine… and visited Hydropark nudist beach in Kiev, which he rightfully loved! I found it quite amusing that we both were praising a beach in Kiev while being at this paradisiacal beach in Hawaii. Well, both places have their perks. I definitely enjoyed that at this beach I could just crack a coconut against the rock and have some fresh coconut water :p

view 0007 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

Then I walked in the dunes and noticed the amazing stark contrast between black lava field and blue ocean, mingling of earth and water elements in action.

view 0008 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

A dove kept me company before my friend Tod finally arrived from San Diego – we planned the trip on the Big Island together.

dove 0000 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USAdove 0001 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

Shortly before sunset, AJ came back too.

view 0009 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

He’s really lucky that he can come to this place and hang loose after work!

naturist 0001 Makalawena beach, Hawaii, USA

As for me, Makalawena was a perfect start of my visit to the Big Island.

hang loose at Little Beach, Maui!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

naturist 0003 Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii, USA

When you’re in Hawaii, you’ll quickly learn the shaka sign, aka “hang loose”, and the perfect place to let it all hang loose is the Little Beach on the southern shore of Maui. The beach is quite small indeed, especially in comparison to the neighboring Big Beach, and it gets pretty crowded on weekends. Nevertheless, it’s easy to find a cozy, somewhat private spot, thanks to the trees and their massive roots that create sort of alcoves at the edge of the beach.

naturist 0000 Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii, USA

This place has a long hippie history, so the laid-back atmosphere is still prevalent there.

naturist 0002 Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii, USA

This beach is perfect for snorkeling and body-surfing, and when conditions are right, you could surf there too. I really wanted to surf there naked, just like native Hawaiians did, but unfortunately we didn’t have luck with the waves that day.

naturist 0001 Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii, USA

In the afternoon, there was a pretty big drum circle with a few dancers, but by sunset, it got really crowded as people were gathering for the famous Sunday fire-spinning gig.

fire-spinners 0000 Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii, USA

I must admit that by this time 90% of the visitor were wearing clothes; perhaps they were mostly tender locals for whom a slight breeze feels too cold, or there were a lot of tourists not familiar with the tradition of this beach, but I felt totally comfortable naked.

fire-spinners 0001 Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii, USAfire-spinners 0005 Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii, USA

There were fire-spinners of all ages, and some were very good.

fire-spinners 0003 Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii, USA

fire-spinners 0006 Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Most performed with the drum circle,

fire-spinners 0004 Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii, USAbut some had additional performances at the ‘backstage’. The party was going well into the night, but we left around 9pm.

If only I managed to surf that day, I would say this beach provided the ultimate Hawaii experience – perhaps next time?

Garden of Eden trail in Iao valley, Maui

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

naturist 0000 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

How do you top an adventurous trail with four waterfalls that I described in my previous blogpost? Perhaps a trail filled with tropical fruit trees and breath-taking views will do! Just such a trail goes through Iao Valley in the western part of Maui.

Iao needle 0000 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

This is actually a popular spot for mass tourism thanks to easy access to the view of Iao Needle rock formation, but hardly any visitors go on the trail behind the viewing platform. That’s where it gets only more interesting. Of course, I took off my clothes to enjoy the nice weather – combination of warm humid air and fresh breeze – and feel at home in the lush forest.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2884/12472332205_f26b540009_z.jpg

The view of the lush forested valley with dark vertical walls of mountains partially hidden in white clouds is exactly what you would imagine when asked to think of ‘magnificent beauty of nature’.

The trail was very easy, with a moderate incline.

trail Iao needle 0001 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

To add some more exercises to our hiking, we climbed  a tree.

naturist 0001 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

At first it looked like an easy tree to climb but we didn’t go much further than the lower branches.

naturist 0000 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

But trees provided much more than shade and climbing opportunities.

guava tree 0000 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Guavas were probably the most common tree along the trail, and they were full of fruit!

naturist 0002 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

That’s why I felt like Adam in the Garden of Eden! Perhaps I did not find the Tree of Knowledge, but I felt perfectly comfortable in the buff there and had no reason for shame. Quite on contrary, it was a pure bliss to walk around naked in the perfect temperature and eat all those fruits.

banana 0000 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Bananas weren’t ripe, but guavas were in prime condition. Besides guavas with yellow skin and pink flash, there were smaller but even tastier strawberry guavas.

strawberry guava 0000 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

There weren’t any strawberries proper, but some kind of raspberry was abundant in one spot.

raspberry 0000 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Then I saw a passionfruit vine with a few green fruits,

passionfruit 0000 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

but luckily there was a perfectly ripe giant passionfruit lying on the soil beneath!

passionfruit 0001 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

By then, I wasn’t surprised to see coffee trees with ripe coffee beans (more like coffee berries). Raw (not fermented and not roasted) they tasted nothing like coffee, but it was interesting to try them just like that.

coffee 0000 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

I guess to make my ‘inner monkey’ totally happy I had to eat some leaves too. And my local companion pointed to a young unrolled fern leaf. While still in the ball, they are edible and quite tender!

fern 0001 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

And there were plenty of ferns!

view 0003 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

When we got to the highest point on the trail, we enjoyed amazing views again.

view 0004 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Waterfalls,

view banana thicket 0000 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

forest with banana thickets

view

surrounded by mountains, what else would we need?

naturist 0003 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Maybe a nice branch to seat on and enjoy the view? By the way, “Filium hominis” (son of man) was carved on that branch. Not sure what I felt more, a son of man Adam or son of monkey, but I definitely felt happily connected with nature on that day 😉

naturist 0004 Iao valley, Maui, Hawaii, USA

trail through a bamboo forest with 4 waterfalls, welcome to Maui!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

On my very short trip to Maui, I had to be very selective as to what to visit from the wide range of adventures and fun that this island could offer. A rough trail through a bamboo forest with four waterfalls sounded too good to miss out. It’s a short trail (just 1km) that goes along Na’ili’ili-haele stream, but it is rightfully located in the adventures section of “Maui Revealed: the Ultimate Guidebook“, where I first heard about it. I was lucky to find an adventurous couchsurfer in Maui, who knew the island well but not that trail and was up for checking it out. So, we headed there almost straight away after he picked me up from the airport.

There are a few narrow trails that start off Hana highway, and they immediately bring you into a dense bamboo forest.

naturist 0000 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

The guidebook said that few people went beyond the second waterfall, but it wasn’t crowded in the beginning either and I couldn’t wait to get naked in that warm and humid weather. Bamboos greeted us with a pleasant noise when the wind made them move and hit each other.

bamboo forest 0002 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Depending on the rainfall, I assume there may be more springs,

bamboo forest 0001 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

but once you cross the main stream, turn left and walk on its right side upstream.

bamboo forest 0003 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

At the first waterfall, you need to cross to the opposite (left) bank of the stream.

bamboo forest & waterfall 0000 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

At the second waterfall, there were quite a few people, so I put on my clothes back. We found a ladder to the left of the waterfall that wasn’t described in the guidebook (I had 2005 edition) – it definitely made it easier to climb the rock, but use it on your own risk.

trail 0000 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

While climbing that shabby ladder, I continued to admire the diverse plant life of this place. I could see 4 fern species within my hand reach (but the hand had to reach out for the rope!)

ferns 0000 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

When we got up and walked just a little farther, we saw a very different kind of fern, a tree fern that was truly majestic.

naturist 0001 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

As you can see, I got naked again. It started drizzling but was still very warm.

forest 0000 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

That stretch of the trail goes through a more open area no longer dominated by bamboos. There were a lot of guava trees full of ripe fruit, so we didn’t need to worry about snack 😉

guava 0000 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Another edible plant growing in abundance there is ginger.

ginger 0000 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

As much as I love ginger, it’s not the kind of thing I would eat just like that.

ginger 0001 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

About 15 minutes after the second waterfall, the stream’s valley narrows and the trail actually disappears… Now, you have to swim to see the next waterfalls! That’s when a waterproof bag gets handy – I used it for my camera, and hid my shorts just under a tree.

naturist 0003 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

After swimming about half-Olympic-size pool,

naturist 0004 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

you get to boulder along the third waterfall, but it’s an easy climb.

naturist 0006 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

And, just a short walk later, you are at the fourth and the most impressive waterfall so far!

waterfall 0000 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

The pool is surrounded by almost vertical cliffs which create a very pretty scene.

waterfall 0001 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

We met a couple there who didn’t even blink at my nakedness. I hope they took a mental note that being naked was a good idea on a hot day on a trail where you have to swim 😉 The guy went for a dive from the cliffs, and then I followed.

naturist 0002 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

That was a perfect reward for the strenuous hike!

naturist-jump-0000-Na'ili'ili-haele,-Maui,-Hawaii,-USA

 

The guidebook said there were more waterfalls, but they were “not possible” to reach. We did not have time to test that and headed back down.

naturist 0008 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

At the third pool, we had another chance for a dive.

naturist 0005 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

As the sun came out, I was shining with happiness 🙂

naturist 0007 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

On the way back, as it often happens, the trail felt much shorter.

naturist 0009 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

Almost at the trailhead, we discovered a viewing spot that we just missed in the beginning.

bamboo forest 0000 Na'ili'ili-haele, Maui, Hawaii, USA

It provided a magnificent view over the whole bamboo forest, and it was a perfect way to end our hike.