We enjoyed several hikes altogether with the dogs in the sunshine around Buena Vista and spent some time skiing up near Tennessee Pass.
From Colorado we flew to Kona, on the island of Hawaii.We spent a total of 5 nights on the Kona side of the island, at a very nice VRBO in a quiet neighborhood uphill (cooler) from Kona. On our first day we went snorkeling at Two Step beach and watched the sun set at Honokohau Beach north of town - where we shared the beach with lots of sea turtles.
The second day we rented paddleboards and spent some time paddling around on the Ironman World Championships swim course in Kailua Bay. That afternoon we took it easy and visited a coffee farm in the hills above Kona.
The next day we ventured up to the far north end of the island. But first, we spent some time on a secluded beach in Kekaha Kai State Park that required a long drive over a not-well-maintained road. It was a trip that pushed the limit of our Ford C-Max Hybrid with 3 inches of clearance, but it did just fine. After the drive was another long walk across a sweltering lava field. The white sand beaches were well worth the effort. We are glad we got there early, by the time we left it was quite crowded at the parking lot.
After this, we continued north to Pololu Valley. A short, but steep hike to the bottom ends in a rocky beach on one side, steep cliffs on two sides and a freshwater pond up-valley. This would be a great place to camp, as the forest inland of the beach is great for hanging hammocks.
The next day was planned to be a day full of snorkeling. We started out with a visit to what was billed to be the best snorkeling on the island, at Ka'awaloa Cove in Kealakekua Bay. This is also the site where Captain Cook, the first caucasian to land in Hawaii, was killed by the natives. There is a small monument to commemorate that fact. To get here you can either pay for a boat/tour to bring you here, or you can walk 3 miles in the hot sun, dropping 1500 feet on the way down and climbing 1500 feet on the way out. We, of course, chose the hike. Unfortunately, our arrival coincided with the arrival of swarms of tourists on boats, so we felt it was quite crowded. There also was a strange cloudiness to the water that we thought might be oil (from boats and/or sun tan lotion). None-the-less, it was a fun little snorkel.
That evening we were scheduled to do a night snorkel with manta rays, but it was canceled due to rough seas. So instead we grabbed acai bowls for lunch and took a few drinks to a nice little beach called Manini'owali Beach in Kua Bay. It is primarily a locals beach, and there were many bodyboarders there enjoying the high surf. It was a great experience, good people watching, there were whales leaping from the water on the horizon, and a few people set up a slackline (tight-rope). The sunset was amazing (as it always is along this coast), click here for a short time-lapse of the sunset.
After thoroughly exploring the west coast we headed to our new base camp in Hilo, but on the way we made a stop at the southern most point in the US (not counting US territories and possessions). It is a dry, windy and wild place. Sometimes people jump off the cliffs here in to the ocean, but we opted to heed the warning signs and avoid the continued high surf below (despite the appearance of the action shot below).
Jennah just had to stop at the southern-most coffee shop in the US.
From here we continued east to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Our time here was short, as it was quite crowded with bus-loads of tourists and we had already driven enough. We did see the main sights, and did a nice hike on a very uncrowded trail. We also spent 30 seconds in the lava tube between Asian tour groups. We will have to return another day to see more of this park; it seems like an incredible place.
Our lodging for the next four nights was at a very nice little cabin in the woods (another VRBO). The owner is a renewable energy lawyer and author that lives in Santa Barbara most of the time. The cabin is completely off-the-grid. It is has three solar panels for electricity, collects rain water in a catchment, has an outdoor shower, and flushable outhouse. There are no visible neighbors from this place, so it is a nice place for piece and solitude. Being in the jungle there were a few friendly geckos, and gecko food (mosquitoes).
One thing we were really excited about was getting up in to the high country, on to the mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. The slopes of Mauna Loa cover over half of the big island and it is the world's largest active volcano. It stands just over 13,000 feet above sea level, but below sea level its slopes descend another 5 km and its sheer mass depresses the sea floor about 17 km, making the total height of the mountain over 54,000 ft! We weren't sure how much time would be needed for our high altitude activities, but as it turned out we didn't need the half-day we allowed. First, we drove up a windy, roller-coastery, one-lane road to the Mauna Loa observatory at just over 11,000 feet. The landscape was an incredible mix of smooth and rough lava, and that is it (very little can grow live in this environment). The Mauna Loa Observatory road would be an awesome road bike ride, particularly coming back down. Click here for a video of the descent in our rental car (at 4x as fast).
From there we went as far as we could up Mauna Kea in a 2 wheel drive vehicle. Mauna Kea is the taller mountain and the one with all the observatories on top. We did a hot, dry, steep hike up the flank of the mountain but lost motivation as many people were driving up the adjacent road. Our intention was to watch sunset from the slopes of the mountain, but we ran out of things to do about 3 hours before the sun was going to set. So, we saved that for another day.
The next day was one of the more relaxed and mellow days on the island. We stayed near Hilo and took a tour of the Puna district. This is a suburb of Hilo, but also it seems where all the hippies congregate. In a small state park we saw trees of lava where centuries ago lava had flowed around trees, burnt away the trees, and the lava stayed as a cast around the trees. Pretty neat! We also spent some time on a very nice black sand beach. The sand was so hot in the the sun that we would burn our feet if we walked barefoot.
Our next day was the day we saw the most of the island, but it required a lot of driving! We drove up the coast from Hilo with a stop at Laupahoehoe Point State Park. This is a small jut of land in the sea at the mouth of a steep valley. The seas are very rough here, but it was also a very peaceful place. Again we saw whales leaping from the water, this time much closer. On April 1, 1946, a tsunami hit the big island, and at this site 20 school children and 4 teachers lost their lives.
From here we had planned to hike down in to Waipio Valley, but the valley was closed due to the dengue fever outbreak. We were on Hawaii towards the end of the outbreak, when only a few people still showed symptoms and the chance for infection was very low. Apparently, some residents of the valley were implicated in the disease spread and the state CDC decided to close the valley under an abundance of caution. Oh well, guess we'll have to come back.
With more time to spare we made a short excursion back to Hawi for dinner. Hawi is a quaint little town on the north coast with a short main street lined with cafes and art galleries. The drive between Waimea and Hawi is gorgeous, with rolling, green hills, tree lined roads, and vistas of the ocean. We had to make a stop for Jennah to pet the horses that are so lucky to live here.
We timed our return trip to Hilo with sunset on the slopes of Mauna Kea. The end of the paved road is at a visitor center, and from here we climbed one of the small cinder cones near by and set up the GoPro on a tripod: click here for that time lapse as well. The sunset was pretty incredible, made even more intense by the surrounding environment.
Our last full day on the big island required a drive back over the mountain to the Kona side. We were again hoping to join a night manta ray snorkel trip, but the seas were still too rough. Instead we decided to maximize our sun and heat absorption at one of the Kona coast's nice beaches. Unfortunately, we didn't last too long. The waters were cloudy because of the rough seas. Jennah insisted on going back in to swim again, but Nate had already cut his foot during the last swim, so he wore sandals. After jumping around with joy in the water for a bit, suddenly Jennah screamed with pain and lifted her foot to show Nate a bushel of sea urchin spines stuck to the bottom of her foot. This picture is after Nate had plucked what spines he could from her foot. Obviously, that isn't how Jennah wanted to spend her last night in Hawaii.
Nate still went out and got a picture of our last sunset in Hawaii to bring back and show Jennah.
We had an awesome time on the big island. It is an incredibly diverse place, from hot, dry, desolate lava fields, to tropical rain forests, to dry savannas, to rolling pasture lands, to alpine mountains. The opportunities for adventure are also diverse and extensive, but easily accessible. We are excited to return someday to do those things we couldn't or didn't have time to do on this trip.
And to all our friends and family, Aloha!
