High on the southwest slopes of Haleakala lies the Kula Forest Reserve – our guidebooks had described it as having somewhat the character of the Pacific Northwest, with often misty weather and tall redwood trees. The area has many different hiking options via a network of interconnecting trails, all serviced by Waipoli Road, a typically Hawaiian engineering marvel that switchbacks up the mountain not unlike its sister road to Haleakala a few miles north. The plan was to hike a loop approximately 10 miles in length, starting from a trailhead some two miles in from where the Waipoli Road pavement ends and a “gravel” road begins. We were starving as we drove down from Haleakala, so we stopped for breakfast at a small inn near Kula – after carbing up on macadamia nut pancakes and french toast, we headed south to Waipoli Road and began the climb eastward. The pavement was in pretty good condition, but the road was an adventure in itself as it gained over 3,000′ in just five miles. As we passed onto the dirt road (little gravel to be found), a large sign advised 4WD vehicles only beyond that point – OK, the guidebook did not mention that. We carefully followed the quickly-roughening road southward, contouring along the steep slope, but the further we went the more anxious we got – after a mile on the dirt portion, we decided to turn around and execute Plan B (of course, we had no Plan B and had to figure that out on the fly). We had passed a trailhead shortly after leaving the paved road, so we backtracked to that point and reconsulted the guidebook. The Boundary Trail heads west and south from this trailhead, reaching a junction with the Waiohuli Trail some 2.6 miles later – the Waiohuli Trail was the route we had planned to exit on anyway, so we decided to hike down to that junction, climb back up to the road, then walk the road back to our car in something under 6 miles total. It was sunny as we left the trailhead, although clouds were quickly building below us – the trail rapidly lost elevation as we dropped through low but dense brush in which wild raspberries were abundant. After maybe 15 minutes in the sun, the mist rolled in around us and did not lift appreciably the rest of our time on the mountain. After a mile or so, the route leveled off somewhat as we entered a eucalyptus forest and reached the boundary fence, the trail traversing southward along it. It was quite eerie, the only sound at all being the birds everywhere in the trees around us. We had passed a sign on the road indicating that pig season was open, and we had heard several rifle shots to this point, none of which sounded alarmingly close, and we began to wonder if we might encounter any pigs – we came across a well-defined print on the trail, but that wound up being the only sign of pigs in the area. Parts of the trail were deeply rutted from water runoff, and we crossed several streambeds that likely flow strongly during and after the brief rainstorms so common in this part of the island. After a half mile or so, the eucalyptus gave way to more brush before we entered a forest of tall cedars – here, the leafy canopy is 100′ high or more, apparently not letting much light onto the forest floor below. The lower branches of the trees are thus barren, giving one the impression of stark fishbones beneath the lush, green treetops. We reached the trail junction shortly thereafter, finding an old abandoned cabin in the thickening fog – after a brief rest, we began the 1,000′ climb back to the road, pausing occasionally to catch our breath up the steep grade. The cedar forest opened up, and it was kind of a shame that the mist did not relent – the views would no doubt have been inspiring. We reached the road within about 45 minutes and began walking quickly back northward – this part of the hike was neither scenic nor eventful, as we were passed by a ranger in a pickup going north and a young couple in an SUV coming south, the only people we had seen since coming up Waipoli Road. We did find our turnaround spot a few hundred yards short of a giant hole across the dirt road – it was indeed a wise decision not to continue driving. We ate our lunch at the car, then headed back down the mountain, being treated to fine views west across the island as we dropped below the cloud cover. Although not the 10 miles we had wanted, this was a beautiful way to begin our “Hike Maui” adventures – much more to come.