Week of Adventure

To celebrate my last week of unemployment Tim came to visit and we did a few long hikes. Starting from our door we repeated the hike Maria and I did about a week before, to the top of Tantalus from Manoa Falls trailhead. Things went well. The summit was less windy and we lunched at the peak.

The next hike was a bit more interesting. We headed out along the Western coast toward Makaha to hike a more ambitious route. Eight miles long, same as the Tantalus hike, but with about 3500 feet of elevation gain instead of 1500. Things started to get weird right away. Tim's family came along to drop us at the trailhead with their rental car. The trailhead looked like a car junkyard with a service road. Up we started on the service road. About a mile or so in we turned around to snap a photo of the view, having already gained a significant elevation. After the photo the brush to our right started to rustle. Is the wind doing that? Then it rustled faster, and closer. We sped up. I looked back to my right, fully expecting to see a furious wild boar. I was surprised, but not relieved to see a bull launch out of the weeds. A big bull.
Tim had gained about 10 yards on me. I took out my puny pocket knife. I'd likely have had more luck throwing rocks than trying to use that paltry excuse for a knife. I started both running and thinking much faster. Bush: Not strong enough. Tree: not tall enough. Telephone pole: that'd have to be it. Even if i couldn't climb it, I might be able to use it as a blocker.
The relief of seeing that bull turn its head away from us and enter the weeds on the opposite side of the service road was overwhelming. It was so relieving I couldn't help but laugh about the situation. Another 1/2 mile up I was howling with laughter.
Most of the rest of the hike was not particularly eventful except that it was very steep. We were climbing sections where people had installed electrical cords and ropes for assistance. When we neared the summit things got even steeper. We now had to maneuver over a three foot wide boulder with a 200-300ft drop on either side of it, with the aid of a garden hose. We discussed turning back for a few minutes. We decided we'd move slowly forward and turn around the minute things got any worse. Tim moved to the center of the boulder and it began to rain. We turned back.
About halfway down the ridge Tim realized he'd dropped his camera. I made my way back up the ridge, since I had the better footwear for the muddy climbs. I found the camera about 1/2 mile in, and raced back down. We completed the rest of the hike without incident. You can see Tim's photo's here

A couple of days later Tim and I booked a flight to the big island seven hours in advance. We slept soundly until 3 am, then we were volcano bound. We did a few hikes, saw the petroglyphs, made a stop at a coffee farm and met a wandering hippy who smelled things instead of eating food. All in about 48 hours. Not a bad way to leave the non-working world. Volcano photos here, courtesy of Tim.