Rainbow Falls

Rainbow Falls, Wailuku River State Park. Hilo, HI. September 2024.

Gray skies colored all of Friday the 13th, as promised by the dawn. After a lazy start, and feeling the effects of our up-and-down trek to ‘Akaka Falls the previous day, we drove all of 3.5 miles or so across Hilo to Rainbow Falls in Wailuku River State Park. A gentle, sporadic spitting of raindrops punctuated our first view of Rainbow Falls (above). They continued as we climbed under the trees for a closer look.

Rainbow Falls, Wailuku River State Park. Hilo, HI. September 2024.

Volcanic rocks made slippery with rain didn’t appeal to us. We stayed under the trees and gazed upriver, unaware another set of falls existed just a short distance away.

The Wailuku River above Rainbow Falls. Wailuku River State Park, Hilo, HI. September 2024.

Weather dictated indoor activities, so we headed to the Lyman Museum (recommended). Ravenous afterward, we grabbed fried plantains and beer at Ola Brewing.

‘Akaka Falls

‘Akaka Falls. It really is this green. September 2024.

On our second full day in Hawai’i, we arrived to ‘Akaka Falls State Park near midday. We paid to park in front of the entrance rather than along the road as some did, paid for entrance, and received a warning from a woman there that the trail required one to go up and down more than 600 steps. Her warning wasn’t an empty one: for nearly a month after our visit I experienced a sharp pain in my left knee when I went up or down stairs. I later learned construction on the path forced us to take the long way around a loop trail, in essence covering three times the normal distance. This trail descends to a stream, crosses it, climbs again on the other side, basically cresting a ridge obliquely to be above Kolekole Stream which plunges 442 feet at ‘Akaka Falls. One hears but does not see a variety of birds. Foliage is lush, a result of the near-constant rain (measured best in feet). It sprinkled on and off while we visited.

Bamboo stand in ‘Akaka Falls State Park, Big Island, HI. September 2024.