After the pavement ends, lava rock begins, single dirt road begins, signs saying, “You will die if water is on road”, we make our peace with God. Our children are ok, we are on the trip of a lifetime, and, man, the “What a way to go!” mentality hits. After all, you can’t turn around; you are in it for the long haul. You keep the driver concentrated on the road and not the unbelievable scenery. You make jokes, sing songs and shift to the left of the car, thinking you won’t fall off the cliff with weight distribution properly in place. Literally, you die many times with the blind turns, bumpy dirt road, passing the few oncoming cars that you have no idea how you didn’t hit them or fall off the cliff. It is so heart stopping that we can’t even take pictures. Really folks, why are there so few cars coming from the opposite direction? (Duh – What the f- did we do?)

We are heading to a hairpin turn, one of the dozens, having to honk, sounding like a truck backing up, and praying that another vehicle is not coming around the turn, especially a local who knows the roads, and your sphincter muscle suddenly recoils in protest. This is only the first of the 6 1/2 hour, 5 MPH trip! When we could stop and rest, heaven opens up and there is beauty that cannot be expressed. Is it because of what we have just experienced and stress levels are calmer, or is it truly heaven? The beaches are beyond belief and the sand is so multicolored that an artist would be confused. The cliffs, the lava fields, the rainbows, the green grass, the palm trees and the deep blue of the Pacific, all come together in perfect harmony.

We finally make it to the rain forest where the turns continue, but are, with great relief, paved. And most important, there are a few guard rails. Then, there are the waterfalls that make the back seat passengers yell, “Stop the car!” There happened to be a few naked beauties diving into the calming pools created by the waterfalls. We stop and take the most amazing pictures. Hawaii, Maui, Hana Highway, are all a gift from the gods. Hunger has set in hours ago and now, we are on beauty overload and are looking for a restaurant! Raw cow from a neighboring field are looking very good. We come to Mama’s House and bribe our way into a “reservation only” table. We are served by many waiters, (to get us out quick before the people who made the reservation come), and let them know that both of us couples are celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary. This is true! Also, it was my birthday, the Giants won the Super Bowl, there was a full moon and Valentine ’s Day was coming up. My sister-in-law and I receive the most beautiful leis we have ever seen, complements of Mama’s House Restaurant. Most important, our children still had parents who were alive after driving the Hana Highway backwards! The gods were on our side. Ahhhh….. Maui! Let us take our last dying breath there!

You also won’t be going a heck of a lot faster this way unless you live here – the reason traffic goes so slow is that everyone is doing a combination of gawking and navigating a very narrow, twisting, turning road. Virtually no one visiting is going to go much faster on this road with or without cars in front of them (and if you do, then you;ll still have cars in front of you…) Now locals are another story – and you should let them pass because they can definitely go way faster than you believe possible (and if you don’t you’ll often get to witness someone dangerously pass you around a blind turn!)

So, I do not usually suggest going that direction for any other reason, and especially if you plan on only doing one Road to Hana day. Much of the beauty will be missed doing it backwards, and if the sun goes down on your drive (good chance it will), there are many reasons why it would be preferable to have it go down on the backside. Some reasons include: you’ll get to see the sunset if you’re on the backside, after dark the lights along the coastline in South Maui are a nice view, the road opens up sooner returning on the back side as well. Also, the sightseeing on the backside is easier to sacrifice – if you have to miss something, seeing only part of the backside is usually much more acceptable than only part of the Road to Hana.

Oh, and the sun question: The Road to Hana side is largely under rainforest canopy; plus the geography is such that the only time the mountain will shade you from the sun is sunrise and sunset times, both of which most people would like to see if they’re out at those times – so going clockwise will put you on the correct side of the mountain for one (or both) of those events.

Have fun on Maui!

Lee