One of the stops we had bypassed the previous day on our way east was the Waikomoi Ridge trail, a short nature walk that ascends a low ridge south of the main road to a couple of picnic areas – it was described as offering views over a deep canyon to the east and the lush vegetation we had come to expect from this side of the island. The trailhead is located on the inside edge of a sharp bend in the road, and it came up very quickly as we went by eastward – westbound was not much different, and we overshot the small parking area, despite only moving at about 20mph, and had to go a couple of more bends before finding a safe enough spot to turn around. The trail gently climbs away from the road, then splits into east and west routes of a loop – at the top of the loop, a single track continues south to the high point of the ridge, terminating at a clearing. We chose the east side, contouring around the ridge as we made our way south – many of the trees and shrubs had small plaques noting their species. What struck us was the root structures of the foliage – gigantic tree roots crossed the trail in several places, and the whole walk consisted of stepping from root to root more so than walking on a footpath. We found the single track leading south and followed it through one switchback to the top, passing an overlook to a bamboo-forested hillside across the ravine to the east – unfortunately, views were very limited at the top as the vegetation was just too dense. The path appeared to continue southward, and we briefly contemplated following it further – the GPS map indicated there were more paths ahead that may offer a different return option down the east canyon where a waterfall had been visible from the road. In the end, we decided that uncertain symbology on the map plus the prospect of walking back to the car on the narrow roadway meant that hiking back down the designated trail was the best idea. As we reached the junction with the main loop, we could hear a large animal thrashing about above us up the hill – to our knowledge, Maui has nothing in the way of wild mammals except pigs, and it would have had to have been an enormous boar to make all that noise. We saw nothing, though, and continued our return to the car via the west side of the loop, proceeding down a boardwalk portion and past a sign indicating the trees were at work. It was a nice little walk, a lovely parting gift from the Road to Hana as we made our way back to central Maui.