Sometimes You Get Lucky

post by Corrine

Last year, our planned trip to Hawai’i ran into some bad luck.

I had registered for a medical conference on Maui, but we got hit by a double whammy. First, we came down with Covid two days before we were supposed to leave, and we were pretty sick. Then our flight was cancelled. It was supposed to be on one of those Boeing 737 MAX planes, one of which had a panel fly off mid-flight. All the planes, including ours, were grounded until they could be inspected. Sigh. By the time we would have been able to reschedule our flight, my conference would have been half over. We decided to just cancel and stay home. I attended the conference virtually. All the lectures, none of the sun and warmth. It was a bummer, but sometimes you just aren’t lucky.

Remember this news story from last year?

So, this winter I was more than ready for some sun and warmth. We planned to go to the same conference at the end of January on the Big Island (it is held yearly in Hawai’i on different islands). How would our luck be this year?

The week prior to our flight, the weather in Fairbanks for January was amazing. Good snow, temps in the 20s above zero. We almost didn’t want to leave. It looked like we might miss some of the best skiing of the year. But then the forecast changed. Fairbanks was going to have several days of above freezing temperatures with freezing rain. Fortunately, our flight was scheduled to leave right before the bad weather hit. Later, some flights did get cancelled. If we had left a day later, we might not have gotten out of town. We got lucky!

Almost too nice to want to leave Fairbanks!

Luck in the Hawai’i High Country

We have been to Hawai’i many times, but we always try to find new places to explore. This time the conference was held on the Big Island, where we had been a few times. And we got there a few days before the conference so we could have some free days to play.

While researching what to do, I read about the Mana Road. It’s a 42-mile gravel road that runs from Waimea around the north flank of Mauna Kea. It looked like it could be a great bike ride. Could I start in Waikoloa at our condo, bike up past Waimea, then all the way up the road and back down the Saddle Road to our condo in one day? It would be close to 100 miles with about 7,000 feet of climbing. I wanted to try. The road surface could be very rough, it seemed like most bikers took mountain bikes. But could I do it on my gravel bike? I decided to go for it. Worst case, I could turn around. 

 Mana Road

I started around 7 a.m. and it was a slow hot grind with headwinds up to Waimea. I was heading up into the clouds and as I got closer to town, it started misting and then raining. Looking ahead, I could see the lower mountain was covered in clouds. Did I want to keep climbing higher into rain and headwinds and no views? No way. Mana Road would have to wait for another time. So, after a quick stop for snacks, I made the decision to turn north instead and take the upper road to Hawi, a road I had biked the last time we were on the Big Island. I climbed up to 4,000 feet and then I had a wonderful 20-mile descent to Hawi. Well, except for the nasty crosswinds that kept wanting to push me into traffic. But luckily there were only a few cars and trucks. The rain clouds remained off to my side, and I had glorious sunshine. 

Just another 1000 feet of climbing to the high point

When I got to Hawi, I had a full bladder, so I stopped at the local art co-op to see if they had a public bathroom. Those clouds that had been off to my side? They were suddenly right above me. Just as I stepped inside, the skies opened, and it poured for about 10 minutes. It was lucky my full bladder forced me inside right then. After the rain let up, I rode back on the Queen’s Highway, riding down to each beach (and back up again - quite the grunt each time). It ended up being a spectacular day on the bike – 85 miles with 6,500 feet of climbing – even if I didn’t get to explore somewhere I had never been.

Timed it perfectly to miss this downpour!

Biked down and back up to every beach along the way and even went swimming

Meanwhile, Eric hiked the Humu’ula Trail to the top of Mauna Kea. It starts at the Mauna Kea visitor center at 9,200 feet elevation and climbs almost 5,000 feet to just below the summit at 13,800 feet. Coming from sea level he felt the elevation, but he was able to slowly make his way up. On the way a thunderstorm developed, but it was a little below him, so Eric decided to keep going. He figured it might dissipate before he headed down. 

But on top, he was greeted by a ranger who said the road was closed because of the thunderstorm, so Eric had to take a ride back down. Three other hikers were already in the vehicle. Eric was disappointed that he couldn’t hike down, but he was lucky the storm hadn’t stopped him earlier. Down lower, Eric did another hike and heard thunder and saw lightning, but luck remained on his side, and he got only a little rain. All in all, we both got lucky that day and missed most of the bad weather.

Luck on the Rainy Hilo Side

We had one more day before the conference started, so we went sightseeing and did some short hikes. The Hilo side of the island can be rainy, but the forecast looked OK. We thought that with some luck, we might get to do some of the hikes. 

We started by checking out the Puako Petroglyph Site in Waikoloa then headed over toward Hilo.  First on the list was Wai’ale Falls. This was my favorite tourist destination of our trip. It was a short hike to the pool at the bottom of the falls and a slightly longer hike to reach the top of the falls. We did both and then swam in the chilly pool, getting as close to the falls as we safely could. 

Puako Petroglyphs - you can get up really close to them

At the top of Wai'ale Falls

So much fun to swim in the pool by the falls

Next was Rainbow Falls and then lunch in Hilo, where we had a great meal and then stumbled across Kula Shave Ice. We shared a delicious shave ice, then read that it was one of the best shave ice places in Hawai’i. We agree!

Best shave ice ever!

Then we headed directly south of Hilo, a place we’d never been before. We thought it would be a sleepy area, but that place was bustling! Fortunately, we left the busy main road to head to Lava Tree State Monument. The short hike took us through lava formations shaped by trees. We had also hoped to hike out to a lighthouse, but some new lava flows had blocked the path. Instead, we kept driving and discovered Government Beach Road, a wonderful, narrow, winding road through the coastal forest. I wished I had brought my bike. What a fun road to ride! It was a lucky find, and it will be on my list of rides to do next time. 

Walking past several lava trees 

On the way back to Waikoloa, we made a stop at Kapola State Park, way up in the rainforest. We wanted to do a longer hike, but it was getting dark, so we settled for the shorter nature walk through a forest alive with birdsong. 

Rainforest walk in Kapola State Park

We felt lucky to be able to spend a whole day on the Hilo side seeing new-to-us places with great weather!

Luck with Friends

While we were on the Big Island, several couples from Fairbanks were also there. We met up with Matt and Nita for dinner on our first night. The next night we decided to go to a casual local fish taco place and when we arrived, there were Matt and Nita! They had just ordered, so we had dinner again! What are the chances? They had also brought bikes along and planned to bike the Mana Road starting in Waimea sometime during their trip. I was disappointed I hadn’t had the chance to do that ride. 

Fairbanks friends, Matt and Nita

Several days later, I decided to bike after the morning conference up to the Belt Road and then south towards Hilo to make a 40-mile loop. As I was heading up toward Waikoloa Village, Matt texted me a couple of photos. They were on the Mana Road, and it looked awesome. I was jealous and wanted to bike part of the road, too, but I didn’t have enough time. Unless…. 

One of the photos that Matt sent from the Mana Road

I texted Eric to see if he had left for his afternoon hike up the Saddle Road. He was just getting ready to leave the condo and was willing to give me a ride on the way to his hike. Luck was still on my side! Eric dropped me off in Waimea and I started biking toward the Mana Road. At the start of that road, I met Matt and Nita, who were coming back down! After a short chat, I had time to ride out 13 miles before turning around and bombing all the way back down to our condo. What a great afternoon! And it was lucky it had rained the other day when I had planned to do the whole Mana Road. It gets a lot rougher and chunkier farther up. I’m not sure I would have made it all the way around Mauna Kea before it got dark. It all worked out for the best.

Views on the Mana Road

Mana Road gets a bit chunky, especially for gravel tires

Meanwhile Eric had his own bit of luck. He had wanted to hike up on Mauna Loa, but the weather service described the winds as “damaging.” Instead, he picked a trail to run lower down just off the Saddle Road. He wasn’t super excited about the Pu’u O’o Trail, but he had never done it before. It winds through a mix of old, partly vegetated lava fields and copses of forest that the lava missed. He ran back on the Powerline Trail, which also went through similar terrain. Birds serenaded him the whole time. He found both trails challenging but fun. It ended up being one of his favorite trail loops on the island. Guess he was lucky he couldn’t go up high!

Friends Nate and Christi were also on the Big Island as Nate was attending the same conference as me. One afternoon, we all hiked down to the Captain Cook Monument and went snorkeling. It was a nice hike, although it’s two miles straight down, which means two miles back up. The snorkeling was good, and we timed it right, so it wasn’t crowded with tour boats. After our hike, we had some of the best fish tacos at Shaka Tacoz in the small town of Captain Cook. We even made it back to Waikoloa in time to watch the sunset (complete with frolicking whales). It was pretty much a perfect day with great friends!

Getting ready to snorkel at the Captain Cook Monument

A humpback whale waves goodbye to the sun.  Photo credit: Nate Buffington

We had a bit more good luck, but unfortunately it was due to bad luck for others. We had planned on the last day of our trip to meet up in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park with friends Dave and Karen who had arrived just a couple of days before. (Fairbanksans sure like to go to Hawai’i in winter!) But we decided to cancel our plans with them when the weather along the coast looked to be a lot better than at the park. We wanted to make the most of our last day of sun and warmth before heading back to cold and dark Fairbanks. We felt a little guilty canceling on them, but it was good thing we did. Dave came down with norovirus that morning and Karen the next day. We might have gotten sick, too, if we had met up with them. Whew! Dodged a bullet. But we were sorry they were having bad luck on their trip. In fact, Dave had a lot of other bad luck on their trip but that's another story! But they did have some good times, too.

Luck Back Home

After a week of a great conference, good weather, and a lot of fun hiking and biking and swimming, it was time to head home. Remember that ice storm when we left? Well, by the time we got home, the streets were plowed, and the weather was back to being perfect with snow in the forecast. That weather caused a lot of bad luck in Fairbanks, but our trip – scheduled many months before – kept us out of it for just the right amount of time. It’s sure nice when luck is on your side!