A Drive to Unspoiled, Serene Hana

A tropical paradise as said,Hana is untouched and serene.Its truly the "The last Hawaiian place".

Hana Coastline

The 52 mile long road to Hana in Maui lead us through flourishing rainforests, flowing waterfalls, rainbows, dramatic seascapes, and unique beaches.

Black  Sand  Beach

The drive through Hana Highway took us a full day to reach.We took multiple stops in between for hiking to various waterfalls, and enjoying views, of pacific ocean.

Hana Highway is a  road full of  switchbacks, hairpin bends, and innumerable one-lane bridges.The winding roads in green jungle occasionally opens to reveal seascapes of the blue Pacific Ocean.

Greenery all around

Of the many unique things we saw , was a  water fall that flows into the ocean.

We also saw many unique flowers on the way, and crossed arches made of rainbows.

Bamboo Fores

We stopped at many places, and hiked up to various waterfalls, in the forests.

The hike to the water falls, in the Bamboo forests was really nice experience.The path is shaded by tall stands of bamboo and the effect of the light filtering through the leaves is magical.

Wai'anapanapa State Park

On the way we visited the Wai'anapanapa State Park. The views here were amazing.

We also saw a black sand beach in the park, Though the beach is really small but its Awesome.We also spotted a mongoose in the park.

Cave

There is a sea cave in the park close to beach and we could walk into, into the cave and saw waves coming in from the other end.The cave was pretty awesome.

We were really late and drove back at night, in dark jungle which in itself was experience of a life time.

Haleakala National Park - The House of Sun

Having read a lot about the sunrise from the Haleakala summit in national park while in Maui we decided to visit the Haleakala summit,experience the sunrise, and see some native hawaiian birds and plants.

Driving in clouds

The park is accessible from Haleakala highway, which took us from sea level to summit (10,000 feet).Though we started early we were still late for sunrise.The Haleakala highway is a long winding road, and driving on the highway was like driving on clouds.

Steepest elevation gain

Many websites say that In a 2-hour drive to the summit of Mount Haleakala, a visitor passes through as many ecological zones as on a journey from Canada to Mexico.What I did observe was at lower elevations we found various shrub forests, and as we reached top it was deserted.

View from Summit

Once we reached the summit we saw  a huge expanse of clouds.There was lot of wind and it was really cold out there.The view from summit was really beautiful we could see big islands, mountain peak rising above the clouds.We also so some great views of pacific ocean and Maui.

Haleakalā silversword

On the summit we saw the  Silversword plant– which grows only in  Hawaii . They are famous for blooming only once and then dying – something that happens anywhere after four to fifty years .

We saw the Silversword but mostly near the visitor center, and observatory  at the top which looked to have been cultivated.

Haleakala Observatory

 
From the summit we could see the huge telescopes, used for observing stars.This complex is operated by US army and we did not have access to it:(.

Volcanoes national park- Experience natures wild side

A visit to volcanoes national park is best way to experience mother natures wild side and how she  is continuously destroying and recreating this world.

Volcanoes national park is place where one can experience how volcanoes built the whole Hawaiian island chain.The volcano under the sea, erupts melts and pushes its way to the surface, erupting on the ocean floor to create a sea mount.

rains forests surrounding crater

Volcanoes National park, is a land of active volcanoes,forests, lava tubes, endemic flora and fauna and mysterious lands.

In the park we visited the Kīlauea  mountain summit and  saw huge crater of barren land created by lava and lush green rain forests surrounding the crater.

Thruston lava Tube

Our next stop was Thruston lava tube a tube formed by lava rushing to sea.Forest around here is lush and we could see some beautiful birds, and fern forests.

Roots of Trees Hanging in lava tube

In the lava tube we saw roots of trees hanging down.
These roots do not reach the ground. They absorb water from the moisture of air. A unique way of how trees adapted to the harsh environment.

Steaming Buff

Next, unique thing we saw was steam vents.This place gave us a mysterious feel.There is steam coming out of surface all around.

This is a place where were standing on volcanic rocks, the surface below is so hot that water seeping , down returns as steam.

Finally we visited the Jagger museum, where we saw  working seismographs.

I wanted to see lava rushing in the sea, but the visitor center informed me since is volcano is still active only way to see it is a helicopter tour :(.

Also the lava from the active volcano is visible during night.

 

Grand Canyon-Miles of Canvas Sketched by Water

Red Painted Rocks at sunset.

 Grand Canyon, is an inspiration, a proof of what relentless persistence can achieve.17 million years of history written by water giving a lesson only change is constant.

I visited grand canyon, south rim couple of times during end of 2011 only wanting to visit it again...
 On first sight of canyon I could see layers of rocks, all around, and my eyes searching for real Hero "Water". It was only after exploring more in the depths, I could see glimpse of Colorado river.

Might Colorado river , flowing..

Grand canyon is really Grand. Its a canyon 446 Km Long, up-to 29 Km wide and more than a mile deep.Its like miles and miles of rock eroded in similar fashion as if a portion was created and then copied around.

We drove from east to west on south rim to explore the various view points on the rim, it took us a complete day for sight seeing, an doing a little bit of hiking on rocks.

On our second trip we planned to hike down the canyon at least till Indian gardens to experience the canyon closely.

Bright Angel Trail ..

The hike down the grand canyon is really different.Here we start to hike down first, and then climb back up.

We starting our hike down from bright angel trail, in morning to hike town till Indian gardens and return back, by evening.
Soon we realized there was ice on the trail, making them really slippery and after a mile of hiking down we had to return to buy crampons.Once we had all gear ready now we started our hike down the canyon.

After Hiking down from around 2 hours we did not reach Indian gardens.Realizing that its already too late, we started our hike back up.On our hike down, the trail we saw a few frozen small waterfalls.

I would love to return to grand canyon soon and this time I wish to hike down till the river and experience its flow.

"I look to the depths, Far, far below,

To crevices, caverns, formed long ago,

To twisting trails, Ledges steep

Winding rivers with pools so deep.

Under the gaze Of Wotan’s Throne,

A river of scarlet steals mammoth stone."

- Lisa A. Williams

A Day of Hiking at Zion National Park



Surrounded by pink, whilte, red, sandstone cliffs all around, and the virgin river giving natural way out through this sandstone castle.Zion national park is a perfect scenery to explore. 



Red Rocks all around..





On the weekend of thanks giving 2011 we planned a day trip to Zion national park. To reach the   park we crossed a 1.1 mile long road tunnel , built in park for connecting it with roads.We stayed in a hotel in SpringDale, to stay close to park to start day early next day.

 

  

 

  

We started our Hike early around 8 AM next day.Temperatures were really cold at this time. When we started exploring the Emerald Pool trails,  the upper and the lower emerald pools, and then headed towards the Grotto.  







View from angel Landing



From Grotto we started our hike for Angels Landing a 8.6 kilometer round-trip.The climb involved climbing steep narrow mountains with chains for support.

 

    

Magical view from top of angel's landing

Emerald Pool



With a great sense of achievement and satisfaction we headed, for our trip further.



 

 

 



  



 





 



Chicago

Chicago the city of sky scrappers, is a culturally diverse and friendly city of Midwest.Its inspiring to see how a city once completely destroyed by fire is birthplace of sky scrappers.

On the banks of Lake Michigan,Chicago boasts of a picturesque skyline, and public art

As a child in general knowledge books I read Chicago as a windy city, after spending a day in downtown, i realized the reason behind the name.

The morning of day when I had planned to visit, it rained heavily and after a couple of hours winds, took clouds away and the same chain repeated 3 times during the day.

In such a weather a sight of rainbow was not a surprise, and looking at rainbow from top of sears towers was a awe-inspiring experience.

An architecture tour of city is gave a good idea of various buildings around,for example the corn towers are designed to have no interior right angles, something without which i cannot imagine any building.

The sears towers is the tallest building of united states,110 story high, based on bundled tube structure inspired by inspired by an advertisement for a package of cigarettes.

There is something to write about unending list of skyscrapers in Chicago, but important to note is some of them where constructed in 1920's.

Chicago downtown has parks, beautiful navy pier by lake Michigan,art museums,public art and night life.

 My day in Chicago downtown, made me wonder of how mankind has made progress and how a few people are smart enough to channelise so much money to single place.

An Evening in Devon Street

Devon Street Chicago The Little India or the Desi Corridor, has a complete Desi feel to it. The houses in the street have a architecture very similar to what we used to have 40-50years back in India with shops on ground floor and a three story on top.This reminded me of my own nani's house which looks very similar to the pic

Devon is full of Indian restaurants, various stores selling saris,jewellery,electronics, spices and even pawn shops.

  

 Devon is the most intriguingly multicultural street in the city, with businesses run by Indians,Pakistanis, Iraqis, and Russians, among others, and catering to Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, and Christians.

Coming to Devon made me feel like I was still in India. The sights of shops, names of shops restaurants, the smells the food, crowds on street....give a feel very close to India.