Manoa Falls

Saturday January 29th.  Lately I've had a homesick feeling, and while I miss San Diego, much of the longing that I've felt has been for Utah.  I never felt at home when we lived there, but now when we go back there is the comfort of home, an embrace of the familiar.  Utah is absolutely beautiful in a way that I never expected to appreciate.  I had been to Park City and Salt Lake as a kid in the winter and those places are fine, but I've found that Southern Utah has me.  I've heard it said that when you go to national parks, you should go to Zion last, because after Zion nothing is ever as good.  I'll believe that.  All of this to say that I wonder if I will ever look back on this time in Hawaii with the same fondness of our time in Utah.  Will I have a deep need to hike these trails and absorb the land like I do in Utah?  I want to, so today we hiked.

This is a video that Joe made of a trip to Utah this time last year.

Manoa Falls Trail is a very easy hike, just a little bit muddy since it has been so rainy.  The trail is short, shady and gains very little elevation.  People run this trail for exercise.  This is a little of what they miss.  

The stream from off the trail head.

Moss growing on a log.

I hijacked a tour and asked the guide about these he said that they are weeds.  Disappointing.

Bamboo Forest.

Sun through the canopy.

Leaf bug.  (I think, anybody know what this is?)

The falls.

I think that this hike is more about the trail then the destination.  The fall is fine, a little lackluster for the amount of rain there has been.  The trail along the way is a tropical rainforest and is what makes the hike worth it.

Also, it's Chinese New Year.  Year of the rabbit, so we headed over to China Town and celebrated a little bit.  

Joe ate meat on a stick.

Somebody must have eaten these fried fish balls.

And these dragons danced so that we would feed them dollars.  

Just a few more photos from this week.