 I Thought I could do it, thought I could hang up the running for 10 days and vacation full time. Problem is, running is a vacation. A few consecutive days without a good run and I was feeling antsy and ready to go. We have been staying on the South side if the island, but most days driving to the north shore as we seem to like the beach up there and the waves have been good for surfing almost everyday. I had heard of a trail called Powerline that runs from the South East side of the island to the north side, through the roadless and seldom seen interior of the island. A little google, some vague route descriptions and I was ready to check it out, figuring I would work it in as part of the commute to the north side.
The family dropped me off at the trail head on a overcast, slightly rainy morning, waved goodbye and told them I'd see them in a couple of hours on the other side of the island. The route is described as a maintenace road for a major powerline that supplys all of the north side with power and that's how it starts out for the first mile or so, though a muddy, slick, rocky one. The route quickly became very overgrown with lots of sections best described as swampy, with mud and standing water up to a foot deep. For the most part it was green tunnel running with 6-7ft grass and huge trees lining the trail, obscuring most of the view. Higher up the trail opened up a bit to awesome views of lush green valleys, waterfalls, and mt. Waialeale, the wetest spot on earth apparently.
The first 5-6 miles were a solid climb, gaining around 1800 ft on the map, but probably more like 2500 with the rolling nature of it. Cresting the high point and looking down on the huge, gorgeous Hanalei valley to the ocean was awesome. The first 3-4 miles of the descent were horrible running conditons however. Huge sections of the trail became totally obscured and overgrown to the point where it was a jungle bush whack. 7 feet of thick grass overhead and 8 inches of mud and water at my feet, just nasty! On and on like this for what felt like 10 miles. The sick thing was is there would be a 1/4 mile section every now and then that had been cleared and I would think it was over, just to have to plunge back into the jungle. Finally things cleared out for good and the last 2 miles or so were on enjoyable rocky dirt road. One thing I learned quickly on this run was how to read the different dirt textures. Red mud with no rocks, slick as ice! I went down twice in the first 2 miles until I figured that out!
Descriptions say 11 miles, I ended up running about a mile down the pavement before the fam showed up, so 12 miles. Guessing around 3000 vert with the the ups and downs along to way. All the guide books say good mtn biking route, can't even imagine taking a bike through that trail in the shape it was in, would suck bad! All in all, a good fun, point ot point run. Got to see things I've never seen, got to blow my kids minds when they realized I just ran all the way across the island, something that takes an hour or more in the car, though I took the direct route. Didn't see a single soul the whole way. Not one I would do again soon, but one to check off the list for sure.
| 