The kids were all busy with their various activities this afternoon, so we drove out north of Wailuku to check out some trails on our list. One, the Waihee Valley trail, requires users to get a permit from the current landholder (we’ve since discovered that hiking on this trail has been completely disallowed, unfortunately), and low clouds in the area meant that views from the other trail, Waihee Ridge, would be poor. So, we backtracked to Wailuku in search of Plan C, a short but steep hike to a cross erected on a hillside west of the town by students at a local Christian school – according to our planning info, the students also maintain the trail. The driving directions to the trailhead asked us to park on the shoulder of the road just past a telephone pole marked #5, and, surprisingly, we found the proper pole just past the noted fork in the road, at which we bore left per the instructions (our hiking guide sometimes has pretty homespun descriptions, particularly for local trails like this that are not part of state or national park systems). Anyway, we made a U-turn up the road and parked down the street from pole #5, and, upon walking back up, found the “trailhead” next to it, basically a crease in the roadside grass where the makeshift trail could be seen heading directly up the hill away from the road. This was definitely not the well-engineered trail we had walked two days earlier at Haleakala, but was more of a haphazard path that pretty much followed the fall line of the slope, more or less heading straight up it. It was very humid in the forest, and we expected to gain some 1,200′ in just over a mile – well before that distance, however (and well below that elevation gain), the hill began to level out somewhat, and we transitioned from fairly open forest to dense jungle. Here, the path bobbed and weaved through large stubby palms and bushes garnished with berries. Without much warning, we emerged into a small clearing, at the west end of which was the cross – perhaps 15′ high, it was in dilapidated condition. It appeared as though larger plywood extensions had been nailed over a smaller version at some point, and the ladder which was supposed to offer expansive views from its top had been dismantled – liability concerns, no doubt. The views from the clearing were very limited, slightly open only to the northeast. The reachable parts of the cross were covered in graffiti, and it was pretty obvious to us that the sponsorship that may have once been conscientious is now quite lacking. We did not stay long but quickly headed back down the hill, reaching the van less than 15 minutes after leaving the cross. Although the views were not what we expected, this hike was good exercise and a nice way to keep our hiking juices flowing.