First and foremost I would like to say that I am loving my new found freedom of extraordinary. I’ve had the time to slow down and really stop and appreciate all that’s around me and embodies me. I’ve adjusted to my relaxing wife life and my new “normal” pretty easily and I am just soaking up every second of it!

beach bumming

This morning we woke up around 7a.m. made some oatmeal with fresh fruit and headed out to hit the trail. We’ve been wanting to explore Maui more and we heard the Wahihe’e Ridge Trail was pretty awesome with great views.

We got on the trail by 9:30a.m. and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. It was brisk with the perfect amount of chill in the air to cool you down as you sweat. The trail is 5 miles long round trip and has incredible views of the valley along with luscious green forest.

You gain about 1,500 feet over the 2 1/2 miles up the ridge so this sign is very important

Since you are climbing so high it is suggested that you get on this trail early (by 8a.m.) for maximum viewing exposure. However Colt & I got on the trail a little later than 9a.m. and although some clouds had already moved in the views were still breathtaking.

This is one of the first outlooks on your way up. You can see two beautiful flowing falls in the distance

This hike gets your heart pumping and gluteus working right away. By the time you hit 1/2 a mile you’ve already climbed 400 feet!

Someone was hitching a ride by 400 feet, my little “wanna be hiker”

The landscape was incredible and took my breath away. You are hiking through guava, kukui, swamp mahogany, cook island pines and millions of ferns all while moving towards this view!

Waihe’e Valley in all its raw beauty

As we kept climbing the air kept getting cooler and cooler it felt great to feel the elevation of the climb.

Going up!

We saw so many unique plants and trees along the way and we saw a ton of these, they are actually the stems that the ferns grow out of!

They reminded me of the caterpillar (the Hookah-Smoking caterpillar hehe) in Alice and Wonderland

Since it was a Sunday and later in the morning there were a lot of hikers also on the trail with us going up as well as coming down.

The most handsome hiker I saw all day:)

Colt loved all the different kinds of trees. The views reminded me of scenes from Twilight (they were that good)

My very own Edward Cullen

It took us a little over an hour to get to the top since we continued to stop for several photo ops!

Kai & I taking a little breather..

keep on climbing, climbing…

Natural beauty just lurking around ever twist and turn

Once we finally got to the top it was beautiful! Its the perfect place to have a light lunch if you should know to pack one. The air is cool and the visual silence is like nothing you can experience unless you are at 2,563 feet.

I love where the ocean meets the sky and the accent of green, there’s nothing better.

Flying high, freebirding

There’s nothing that I love more than experiencing this life and exploring this earth with this man

Going down..

Kai loves this part, she just cruises all the way down

Taking an extra moment to take it all in (once again)

I love the forest and getting lost in paradise

This hike is so beautiful and I highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Maui or to residents who have yet to experience it. If you love having your head in the clouds and paradise at your feet you will absolutely love it. I know we did!

“I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life until I realized my life was never ordinary. I had just failed to notice how extraordinary it really is..”