Three Hours of Hiking!

Saturday and the weather is not good for Scuba Diving (too much surf and it's quite windy). So I grabbed my walking stick, a backpack with some water and a PBJ and headed out to the north shore and Ka'ena Point. We've hiked the road to Ka'ena Point many times. It is a long hike along the desolate shoreline mostly inhabited by 4-wheelers and day-long fishing parties. Today was no different! It's usually dry and hot when the rest of the island is rainy and wet.

I did a lot of hiking along the shoreline and rocks down by the waves. I am fascinated by the power of the ocean. I've certainly seen my share of ocean waves! Still, I can't get enough. I will miss walking by the sea when I leave.


The tide was low and though the surf was up, it wasn't really high so it was easy to explore some interesting places near the water. When the tide is up, this place get swaves careening through the rocks to crash up on the rubble seen here.


There are plenty of places where people set up a camp for the day and go fishing. It looks like fun: chilling out with friends and family while watching the fishing poles. They often bring BBQ grills and have a 12 hour cookout! In a place like this, swimming in the ocean is problematic with the surf, rocks and currents.

Ka'ena Point is the most Western end of O'ahu and is thus bristling with old military infrastructure. I thought an old switchback road up the mountains looked like a good hike, so I started up!




The road quickly went from road to trail and shortly after that into a toe path. But it was still a nice trail to follow up and up along the face of the mountain with increasingly fabulous views!




My goal was to make it to the top of the ridge, but about 2/3rds of the way up, the trail disappeared into the underbrush. The only way up that I could see was a climb through a rip-rap field of unstable rocks. So I stopped to take in the view and take a picture before heading back down.

Some of the trail eeeks along the edge of the old road along a cliff edge. From here, I could see the entire coastline all the way back to the set of the TV show "Lost"! The wind was constant and strong which made the heat of the day a non-factor.



Of course, with all that natural beauty, it is often the human activity that provides comic relief for the day!