A Geological Landmark of Both Peaceful and Bloodied History in Maui: Visiting Iao Valley State Monument

Iao Needle

Date: January 26, 2020

Place: Iao Valley State Monument, Maui, Hawaii

Coordinates:  20.880763, -156.545400

Length: 1/4 mile to the needle look out, 1 mile loop by the river and the historic garden

Level: easy

 

The day after our visit at the House of the Sun - the Haleakala National Park, we decided to dedicate to snorkeling. We drove to a recommended beach in the south of Maui only to turn away because the ocean was too rough. Following another recommendation we drove to another beach north of Lahiana on the west shores of Maui, where we spent a few excellent hours enjoying the magnificent beach.

 

A beach north of Lahiana

A local man was walking to and fro in the shallow water, hunting octopi. It is a protected area but he needed to feed his kids, the man said. This was his ancestral fishing grounds and he still comes there regularly to catch dinner for his family.

We also enjoyed swimming in the mild, calm water. The bay was shallow and the water nice and temperate. My friends swam for some time then they settled on their towels on the sand for a siesta. I brought my under water camera and tried my best at under water photography.

The reef there wasn't very developed and there weren't many animal species there. There were a few fish species, colorful and agile, that made it very hard for me to focus my camera on them, combining both their moves and mine.

There were also a couple of sea urchin species. I was barefoot and had to be careful not to set my feet (or any other part of my body) on these spiny creatures.

There was still plenty of daylight left when we felt we were done with this beach so we decided to check out a state park that wasn't too far from Lahiana - the Iao Valley State Monument that's located in the West Maui mountains. 

It was somewhat challenging to find parking there - this state monument is popular among the locals. Most tourists don't go there, but the local people love it.

The one thing that struck me right away was the greenery. Everything was so green and lush in that valley! The river coming down the Iao Valley is one of the four main fresh water rivers on Maui, a lifeline for the human inhabitants there.

We started on the short trail toward the Iao Needle overlook platform, mingling with other visitors in the park. As always, I was looking for wildflowers, and even the smallest ones made me happy. 

The trail to the needle view point was paved and a small bridge span the river that was running down from the mountains. We paused on the bridge to look down at the waterfall. A couple of stone structures were there, erected right at the lip of the waterfall. I didn't see any path leading to that spot so I assumed whomever made these structures had waded through the water to get there.

When the needle came into view there was no mistaking it. A volcanic pillar that was separated by erosion from the main rock of the mountain side. The needle, as the south-facing mountain slope, was covered with vegetation, painting it green. It looked like a thumb sticking out of the earth.

Iao Needle

The valley extended far behind the needle, but the trail didn't go there. If there was a way to hike there, I would have to come there again in order to do so. For the time being, we settled for seeing the needle and explore a bit the park's grounds. 

We had a nice view of the stream as we approached the view platform. It was fairly narrow and it run softly. It was hard to imagine that this stream was responsible for the erosion of the grand valley behind the needle. This stream also sustained the agricultural community that lived in this valley before the modern settlement of Maui. 

A flash of red in the bushes turned to be beautiful tropical flowers the identity of I did not get. 

At the view platform we stood and gazed at the Iao Needle for a good long time. Below this needle in this valley, in 1790 was the Battle of Kepaniwai, the battle in which King Kamehameha the First defeated the Maui warriors, a major win in his campaign to unify all of Hawaii under his rule. 

Iao Needle

Turning around, we had a nice view of the valley's opening.

We turned away and started back down the path. Soon the needle was hidden behind the trees, and now it was the peak north of it that attracted me. It look like it would be a nice climb to go up there, but I didn't see any trail leading there on my map.

A narrow path diverted from the paved trail and we turned onto it, going down to the river. On the way I turned my attention to a spider web. In its center was something that looked like a small spiky fruit of some plant. On a closer look however, I realized this spiky thing was the web's owner herself - a strange looking spider, all folded up in a ball with her sharp points facing outside.

We strolled between some huge and very impressive trees. It was impossible to capture how grand these trees actually were. We enjoyed the deep shade beneath the trees.

We found a nice spot by the river bank and sat down, taking our shoes off and dipping our feet in the fresh water. My body was still salty and sticky from the ocean swim earlier but my swim suit was locked inside the car so I settled for rinsing my feet only, as did my friends. There were many other people around, and a few of them were sitting inside the river, enjoying a more serious submerging.

We sat for a good long time by the river, just chatting and relaxing. Eventually however, it was time to go. The sun was getting lower, making pretty patterns of illumination in the vegetation.

Like today, old Maui had well developed agriculture. Traditional Polynesian agriculture was done in built terraces and a water system that channeled river water into and out of the terraces. The park has a beautiful living historical garden, and coming from the river back to the paved trail we meandered through the garden.

The main plant staple of old Hawaii was the taro. From taro roots the Hawaiians made a mild flavored fermented mush called poi. I first tasted poi on my first visit to Hawaii about 18 years ago and I liked it. Pappa Quail didn't like poi, and neither did my friends after we got some to try a few days later, in Honolulu. 

Taro is planted in water. It is still grown in large quantities throughout Hawaii, and is the base for many other types of foods besides poi.

Taro

Bananas are also widely grown in Hawaii. There were banana plants in the garden as well, carrying flowers and bunches of green, still developing fruit.

Banana

There were other plants that I didn't recognize like this berry-baring plant in the photo below that I first thought was manioc (cassava), but turned out to be something else that I don't know.

Today Maui is known for its marvelous pineapples, which we sampled and approved of on every possible occasion. 

We finished our garden tour, and went back up to the main trail above the river.

When we got to the parking lot we had the chance to find the answer to the eternal question, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" As in almost every other place we've been to in Hawaii, there were chickens roaming freely. The young hen we saw was striding with determination from one side of the lot to the other, and when she reached the edge of the asphalt she took a giant leap in the air, aided by her weak chicken wings, and landed on a low branch of a large tree. From there she adjusted to higher branches with smaller hops until she settled in her roosting place, hidden from our view inside the foliage. She was getting ready for the night.

Following the hen with just as much determination, was a very colorful cock. The cock crossed the parking lot, strutting confidently between the cars until he reached the asphalt's edge. There he paused and contemplated before eventually jumping up on the tree. He was much less graceful than the hen, and didn't get as high in his first jump. I guess all those fancy feathers to weigh on the male bird.

Like the chickens, it was time for us too to get ready for the night. We left the park and started driving back to our lodge in Kihei, at the southwest side of Maui, for our third and last night in that island. On the morrow we will be flying to Oahu.