The Grand Canyon (Day 16) - Whispering Falls

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

May 3, 2012

It's dark. I'm freaking tired. Too tired to even set up my tent. I thought I might sleep on the boat tonight, but nixed that idea because we're camped in the middle of a freaking rapid and the water is not calm or quiet. This camp side is called Olo Canyon. The moon is almost full. It's so freaking bright that I don't need my LED headlamp to see clearly. To hell with it - I'm going to put on my sunglasses and sleep out in the open tonight. Oh, and did I mention I just drank three beers and a bunch of wine? Yup, this post should be interesting. . .

Today was a damn good day! LOoooong, but good. We hiked Kanab Creek Canyon all the way to Whispering Falls. It took more than 6-hours in total and as a result we got to camp super late in the day. I must say that the payoff at Whispering Falls was truly epic and absolutely beautiful. Several times, we almost turned back as it was much further than Bob or Butch remembered. I'm glad we didn't. After some difficult hiking/climbing we reached the place and with perfect timing. It's a long narrow pool of crystal clear water with a trickling waterfall into it and it probably only gets about 30 minutes of sunlight a day. We nailed it perfectly as the sunlight glistened into the pool. Twenty minutes later it was in the shade. Bob and I speed hiked the way out and got a chance to chat it up during a couple of beers at the boat while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive.

I'm so tired right now that I wish I could write more as it was such an amazing hike. On the way in I played a game with the Grand Canyon to see if I could make it all the way to Whispering Falls without getting my trail running shoes wet. This often left me way behind the group, but I would eventually catch up as I jumped from boulder to boulder and took extremely difficult routes rather than traverse the creek 500 times. This is probably why I'm so damn tired. On the way back I blasted through the creek at full speed and it felt so refreshing.

 Kanab Creek

Resting during lunch break at Kanab Creek

 My new bed!

The waterfall at Olo Canyon

Long story short - tonight I'm sleeping on a borrowed air mattress from Robert and Athena, who are sleeping on their cots instead. My air mattress, a Kelty "Good Nite-Airbed" that is made for camping, started leaking the second night of this trip and eventually got to the point of not holding any air last night. During the entire trip I've had to get up every 2-3 hours and manually pump the air mattress back up. It's been a shitty experience, but I've been determined not to let it ruin the adventure. Last night I ended up sleeping on rocks as all my efforts to patch it failed. Tonight I'm stoked to be on a mattress that seems to be holding air just fine. Looking forward to a good night rest!

 Swimming at Whispering Falls

Big Horns that Robert and Athena spotted along Kanab Creek

The Grand Canyon (Day 15) - Deer Creek Falls

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

May 2, 2012

Another good day in the books! Although it started off with some aches and pains in my lower back, probably from paddling so much yesterday, I spend some time stretching and doing a few yoga positions and took some Advil and it quickly got better.

We drifted a few miles down the river after breakfast and were the first ones to arrive at Deer Creek Falls (Mile 136). Like the the Little Colorado River we have the place to ourselves temporarily until other river parties arrive at this popular stop (by the time we leave there would be 18-boats here).

We all hike up to the Patio, which is one of the most beautiful areas I've ever seen. It's a slot canyon hundreds of feet above the river that leads back into a gorge with Deer Creek flowing all the while in the depths on its way to eventually go over the waterfall. There are dozens of mini-waterfalls along the way and it eventually opens up into a big area with lots of shade kind of like a natural patio.

From here, Bob, Athena, Robert, Andy and I continue on the trail on a mission to get to the "source" of Deer Creek and the famous Throne Room. The source is a powerful waterfall coming straight out of the side of a canyon wall high above the trail, which goes directly behind the waterfall and into a room where people have literally made "thrones" out of large flat pieces of rock. We stop and refill our water bottles directly from the source. It's the best tasting water of the entire trip! We then all stop, pick out a throne and eat our packed lunches. Bob reads his book, the Game of Thones, while sitting in one of the largest thrones for about a half hour.

When it's time to hike back to the Patio I decide I'm going to trail run, but this time film it on the GoPro mounted on my helmet that I brought up from the boat in my backpack. I'm only wearing my Teva Sandals so I have to be extra careful. I think to myself that Jenny will enjoy seeing this video. I really wish she were here to run some of these trails! I finish the run in just under 11 minutes. It takes an average river rafting passenger about 45 minutes to hike what I've just ran. I cool off by laying down in the creek at the Patio.

Trail run back to the Patio

I spend most of my time taking photographs of the area and I can't wait to get back to a computer to view them. The problem with these GoPro cameras is you can't review your video or pictures. I thought that the SD card would work in my other cameras from the GoPro, but they aren't compatible. Everyone wishes we could review footage instantly, but I kind of like it because it's like the old days of film where you just don't know until you get to the darkroom. I miss those days sometimes.

We are camping now at a place call the "Dorris" campsite and we got here early so everyone is super chill and relaxed. I'm not sure why it's called Dorris, but I get the impression from Butch and Bob that it's something dirty. Oh well, the weather is pleasant and I'm excited about an all day hike we're planning for tomorrow at Kanab Creek.

The Grand Canyon (Day 13) - Surprise! A rock!

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012.

April 30, 2012

It's late (a whopping 8:45 p.m.) and I'm tired. This is going to be a short post.

Got up early this morning and climbed around solo in a slot canyon before breakfast. It was "good" solitude.

We stopped at Elves Chasm soon after launching down the river and were delighted to discover we had the place to ourselves. Bob, Andy, Robert and I hiked, climbed and clawed our way all the way up above the first (famous) spot where everyone stops and jumps into the pool of water below a waterfall. We made it past about a dozen or so similar mini-waterfalls and at the top was a 100' waterfall that was absolutely amazing. It was super lush and green and without looking up and out of the side canyon you'd never know you were in the Grand Canyon. The climb up is super technical, the most so far, and not exactly safe without climbing equipment. I actually stashed some of my gear about halfway because I needed to be free from carrying it and unrestricted in my movement. I don't think many people make it up to that spot and I'm honored to have the opportunity. On the way back to the boats we stop at the first pool and Robert, Athena and I do take a few turns jumping through the waterfall and into the pool. By  now, there's another private river trip here. They see us come down from above and start to climb up the way we came. I know it's not a nice thought, but I can't help but look at them, see how fat they are, and think they'll never make it or their injure themselves trying.

 

 

 I've just discovered how easy it is to add a YouTube video to this blog. I'll try and add more of the GoPro videos from the trip in future posts.

Once we were back on the river something caught us by surprise just below Elves Chasm. A random rock, but not a big rock and not an obvious rock, caught us. Robert was paddling and was smart enough to turn us right into it when he saw it at the last minute and realized there was no avoiding a collision. Our raft wedged up onto and slightly over it causing us to stop. I jokingly say, "OK, no one panic," because that's what Butch always says to the commercial passengers in briefing if something "interesting" were to happen.  Athena and I then scramble to the rear of the raft and use our body weights to shift the center of gravity of the raft. With this and Robert pulling on the oars we are able to dislodge ourselves and continue down the river.

Butch and Tricia are not as lucky. We look back and in horror see them heading for the same rock. There's nothing we can do, but watch them collide into it broadside. It turns out that they just weren't paying attention, just like us, and the river naturally takes you right into the slightly submerged rock. They didn't even see us on the rock and we were probably stuck on it at least 3 minutes. It's not even in white water. We quickly paddle over to a beach just below where they are stuck. I grab a long rope and Robert and I start climbing over shoreline rocks to try and get near them when we see them coming down the river free of the rock.

All is good until we catch back up with them and discover that the rock ripped a 6-inch hole in the side tube of their raft. The tubes are chambered so it's not like the boat is sinking. It's just going very awkwardly down the river. Not something you would want to run a serious rapid with...

At this point Butch is f*cking pissed at himself for the lapse of attention and consequence. He admits he was just in "motorboat" mode, because that's what he's used to - having horsepower to save you at the last minute. Not today. We make it a few miles down the river to a place called Blacktail Canyon. This is another one of my favorite spots on the river. It's 2 p.m. and we decide to unload the boats, make camp, and concentrate on fixing the hole in the boat. I have to give credit to Bob for keeping the peace and spirits up. Butch is so upset (I would be too) that none of us want to get close to him. We're all being quite and keeping our space and Bob (who has been on the river as long as Butch and known him forever) steps in and really helps out as a communicator of sorts. First, we unload Butch and Tricia's entire boat onto shore and then flip the boat upside down onto the beach. Then we organize into two groups. One group sets up camp while the other group works on patching the hole. Butch does the patch himself and is assisted by Tricia and Bob. He attacks the raft like a surgeon on a patient. It's 95 degrees outside and the sun is relentless. Bob and Tricia set up all our umbrellas over the surgeon and his operating table. He uses a hole punch to create several dozen holes laterally along the tear on both sides. Then he uses some of Cathy's fishing line to sew/stitch the hole shut. After ensuring the surface is completely dry, he uses the repair kit to apply a huge patch over his work. Later, they apply another patch over the first patch. In the long run, this actually works and we're saved!

Butch and Tricia decided to get a non-self bailing boat when we hired Cieba Adventures to outfit us. The reason is because Tricia wants to get exercise by bailing water and they both think that the boat will preform better than the self-bailing boat that Robert, Athena and I rented. The problem is their boat is super old. The hull is lined with dozens of patches. I don't know what the lifespan of one of these boats are, but this one is got to be geriatric. Someone said it's the only one that Cieba has and all of their other boats are self bailing. I'm nick naming it the "SS Fragile."

Robert, Athena and I make dinner. It's pasta alfredo with a strange coleslaw and it's surprisingly good. We also wait until dark and explore Blacktail Canyon. It's a huge slot canyon that looks like it belongs in Lord of the Rings. The acoustics are amazing inside it and again, I'm kicking myself for not bringing my trumpet. Andy, Kathy, Robert, Athena and I slowly approach the entrance. It's very visible from outside as the starlight and waxing moon light it up well. Right at the entrance we all turn out our lights for effect. Just then a frog makes the most horrific sound and Cathy freezes in place. I look back at her and can't help but laugh out loud at the expression of fear on her face. "It's just a frog," we say. Inside the canyon it's pitch black. The walls are so tall and narrow that no moon light penetrates to the floor. Back in 2008 we camped here and my friends and I attempted to sleep inside it, but quickly left as we each got freaked out one by one. There are bats flying around, frogs making gnarly noises and at this time of year, quite a few spiders and beetles poking around on the floor.

This is one of my favorite panoramic of all the ones I took during the trip. It's real size is about 4-feet long. It's hard to tell on the computer screen, but it's got some amazing detail to it. You can see the scale of Blacktail Canyon by looking at Robert and Athena in the left side of the frame. This spot is about a 10 minute hike up from the river.

Blacktail Canyon entrance.

Wow.... I had meant to make a short entry, but got carried away. Now I'm super tired after today and really going to go to sleep! Bring on Day 14, which is May Day I might add!

The Grand Canyon (Day 6) - The Dark Castle

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012

April 23, 2012

I'm starting to get used to this way of life and get settled in for the long haul. After the past two days I feel like my issues are gone, over and I'm ready for whatever this big ditch throws at me! I took another Zrytec first thing this morning and haven't had any allergy issues today. I think I will continue taking them for the rest of the trip just to play it safe. Life is so much more pleasurable when you're not sneezing every few seconds.

Instead of hitting the river after breakfast we loaded up our water bottles and laced up our hiking shoes (Brooks Cascadia trail running shoes for me) with a different goal in mind. My aunt calls the ominous cliff overlooking this campsite the "Dark Tower" because it sort of resembles a giant round turret of a mid evil castle. I'm not sure what the official name of the bluff is, but I have to agree with her that it looks like some kind of castle that you would see in the Lord of the Rings movies. It's got to be about 1,000 feet high or so above the river and it's a very sheer drop off all the way down. Butch and Bob know of a trail from years ago that leads up the side canyon and around the backside of the bluff eventually to the top overlooking where we're camped. None of us has ever been to the top so it's truly new and exciting. Our goal is to find our way to the top and make a day out of it.

Nearly two hours of steady hiking and some free climbing without stopping gets us to the top. It's only Bob, Andy, Robert and myself now since the others turned back a little before a really sketchy section of free climbing around the halfway point.  Bob trail blazed most of the way up like an animal on a mission! Robert and I both kept pace, but without having to give it a strong effort. For being in his early 60s, that man is in amazing shape. As soon as we reach the top Bob and Andy immediately go into a technical conversation about base jumping down to the river. They're both pilots and world-class sky divers so it's not surprising. It takes a rock nearly 10 seconds to hit the ground after Bob tosses it over the ledge. That's when I realize I'm probably standing here with two of the best skydivers in the world. What an honor!

We see Kathy at the boats fishing and we scream, yell and whistle and get no response. That's how high up we are. Bob estimates it is a 600' free fall before reaching an outer ledge below that is probably still another 600' above the river.

Coming down is a complete bitch! It takes less time than going up, but only because we're able to go faster in the easy sections. When we reach the river I take off my shoes and socks and soak my legs in the icy cold river water, which is about 50 degrees, and I notice that I wore a hole in one of my brand new socks. I've never even done that running marathons. My legs feel like I ran about 15 miles and I'm starving. We eat lunch and then decide to make a few miles down the river before camping.

We pass Nankoweep Canyon and the rapid at mile 52 without stopping. Nankoweep is a very recognizable part of the Grand Canyon because of the ancient Anasazi structures carved high up in the canyon walls that were probably used to store grain in the winter time. I've been here before and don't care that we're passing it up. It is a beautiful canyon and there's a very small rain cloud that gets us a little wet making the canyon even more pretty. The rapid at Nankoweep is very long. Robert starts it and I finish the second half. It's not big, but more of an endurance rapid. I like it immensely.

I'm noticing that I'm getting better at controlling the raft in the rapids, but feel that Robert is still a little ahead of me because he has had more time at the oars. Tomorrow I'm going to lobby for more stick time. We are starting to get closer to the BIG rapids of the inner gorge and I want to have complete confidence with it almost being instinctual if I'm going to get a chance to tackle any of them.

We make camp at Kwagunt Canyon. It's another gorgeous side canyon and there's talk of taking all of tomorrow to explore it.

On another note, I'm starting to miss Jenny more and more. If I ever do get an opportunity like this again I've decided that I'll only go if she can be part of it. There are so many things here that she would love. Right now I'm really starting to look forward to the one opportunity I'll have to make a phone call to her at Phantom Ranch, which is another 35 miles that we should make probably by Thursday. It's rained a little today and this makes me a little nervous as I don't want the river to change. It's clear and clean and I want it to stay this way!

The Grand Canyon (Day 5) - Aa-chew!!!

The following post is from the journal I kept of my recent adventure upon a 21-day private river rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Peak (about 230 miles) that took place between April 18th and May 8th, 2012

April 22, 2012 

I think my body is trying to get rid of any and all issues during the past 24 hours. First, it was the puking incident at dinner last night. Then this morning I wake up and start having severe allergies. Basically, my nose will not stop running. It's a freaking waterfall of snot! Because of this I'm sneezing, blowing snot rockets, sounding funny when I talk, you name it. It's horrible, but I'm determined not to let it ruin my day nor the adventure. I took a Zyrtec allergy pill earlier today. After a while nothing changed so I panicked and decided maybe it would be a good idea to take a Sudafed. This was probably not the best decision I've ever made because I soon became "loopy" and on top of that I continued to sneeze and have to blow snot rockets! Now I'm basically drugged up and still having my little allergy attack.

It continues all day and I forced myself to not let it stop me from any activity. At one point I have make an announcement to everyone to please stop saying "bless you" after every sneeze because I'll probably be sneezing several hundred times more today.

As for the river goes, we finally seem like we are becoming a better oiled machine. We're definitely more organized and everyone seems to be figuring out what they're good at or what they like to do task-wise. Butch seems to have taken charge as the leader a little more and we got a much earlier start this morning at around 8 a.m. We totally charged President Harding Rapid first thing and then hiked the trail leading up Saddle Creek Canyon. This was a new spot for both Robert and I and if I hadn't been sneezing and drunk-like I think I might have enjoyed it. At the top the canyon narrows and there is a slot waterfall. We stop and have lunch at this spot and soon we learn that there's a rattlesnake hanging out in the water only about 10 feet away from our picnic. We leave him alone and he leaves us alone.

After Saddle Creek we settle on camping at the 50-Mile mark popularly called Dinosaur campsite because of a rock up on the canyon rim high above that kind of looks like a T-rex. Since we make camp earlier in the day it's super nice to have plenty of time before dark. Robert and I even went exploring up a wash where we find some new types of rocks not seen yet on the trip. It's quartz rocks and I think Robert and Athena have started their collection to bring home.

After our little adventure Robert, Athena and I take a shot at making dinner for everyone. This was our first time making dinner and the adults (or older members of our party) get to chill out and have a drink. Making dinner was fun and I look forward to doing it again. I'm not sure about making breakfast because I'm definitely not the earliest riser amongst our group.

It's getting dark quick and I don't want to write under my LED headlamp because we're starting to experience these annoying non-biting bugs called "midges" and they seem to overwhelm you if you have your light on once it's dark. In my previous two trips down the river I've never experienced a bug problem. I've been told these little suckers have a short life span and I guess we've timed it just right because they're everywhere. I hope they all die soon! So I'll close for now, probably go have some wine (too much wine with my west coast family around) and relax.

Hawaii on a whim!

Ahhhh Hawaii! How different my view of your majestic shorelines, vog covered volcanic hills, pristine reefs, lush green hiking trails and friendly residents is now that I've visited, circumnavigated and learned so much more about the "Big Island" than I could ever grasp from books and videos.

A couple of weeks ago an opportunity came up I couldn't let pass. A close cousin to me, like a brother, invited me to join him for a week's vacation to Kona, Hawaii. The trip was all paid for, non-refundable, and the unfortunate event of a break up with his girlfriend left him in need of a good friend to explore the island. All I had to do was find last minute airfare, which seemed impossible until I got some amazing help from some other family members that happen to work for the airlines. Before I knew it I found myself 4,000 miles from Florida climbing down the steps onto the tarmac of the Kona International Airport.

I never thought of any of the Hawaiian islands being my "dream" destination. I've been fortunate enough to travel around the world and I've seen some pretty amazing places. Knowing what's out there, I have a pretty long list of higher priority destinations than Hawaii. After this trip my attitude is definitely different. I want to go back and I want to go back soon! In a week's time, Robert and I drove nearly 500 miles and circumnavigated the largest island in the chain. Here's my best attempt to portray our adventure in the following photo essay.


We spent our first full day driving north from Kona and then south exploring the coastline and beaches. The first beach was Kekaha Kai State Park. I thought I forgot my snorkel at the hotel so I spent the entire time swimming around with no snorkel only to learn later it was in my backpack on the beach. Oh well, we had a blast. I decided to attempt a "rock run" in a sandy spot surrounded by reef that was about 20 feet deep. Leaving my fins with Robert, I dove down and picked up the biggest rock I could find and ran across the patch. I think I made it about 15 feet and then my lungs felt like they were going to freaking explode so I dropped the rock and broke for the surface. I've seen Hawaiians doing this in surf videos and I had to try it. I think it would be an amazing way to cross train for surfing. Talk about building up lung capacity while exerting yourself and trying to stay relaxed all at the same time. Three times of doing this and I was exhausted! I wish we had clear enough water here in Florida. I'd do it every day.

The second day we drove to the northeast side of the island to the Waipio Valley. The landscape changes a ton we crossed over to the windward side of the island. It goes from a dryer arid landscape to lush green tropical vegetation. We rented an AWD vehicle and were surprised they wouldn't let us drive down the valley unless we had true 4-wheel drive. That's ok, because we decided we would walk down and back out. To hell with the car! I got so excited about the sheer beauty of this place I had to do a handstand next to the cliff!


After several hours of hiking around the Waipio Valley we stopped and ate our lunch. There are numerous finger valleys along the shoreline. If I lived here I'd backpack in for several days at a time and camp out. It'd also be an amazing place to sea kayak around the bluffs and into each valley/beach.

Robert and I could see a waterfall miles away up into the valley from our lunch spot on the beach. I wanted to backtrack to the main road and try to find another trail to it. Robert all about continuing on a marked trail named "King's trail" that appeared to go along the opposite side of the valley hoping it would cross over and we could get to the base of the waterfall. Well, this didn't quite work out. We hiked miles and miles before giving up as there was no clear way to get across the valley. We were told that in Hawaii you can go anywhere as long as you don't cross a fence or cross sacred ground. There were tons of fences. It was an amazing part of the day with all kinds of fruits growing everywhere and a beautiful tropical canopy pictured above.

Looking back into the Waipio Valley from the river mouth at the beach.

Robert picked up an avocado. It was so ripe it was almost purple. He thought it was a pear because of the shape. I told him it was an avocado. Not believing me he poked his fingers into it and got a big green surprise. We split it and ate it there on the spot. Hands down.... one of the best avocados I've ever had!

This is far as we got to that waterfall. We snorkeled around a bit in the river and saw some crawfish-like creatures. The day was getting late and it was time to hike back to the vehicle.

Nobody said it would be easy. 1,400 feet elevation gain in .9 of a mile with not one switch back. The sign said it was a 25% grade. I believe it and my calves were freaking pissed at me the next day. Seriously, it felt like I had ran a race or something. I am NOT used to hills like that coming from Florida. I went on MapMyRun.com and attempted to plot out our hike. It came to about 10 miles.

Next we drove to the southeast side of the island. This is the land of volcanoes with the major city being Hilo, were we stayed one night at the Green Turtle Inn. I wouldn't recommend it for it's accommodations, but for price and the knowledge the owner can share with you it's unbeatable. The photo above was from a beach north of Hilo near Wainaku. I wanted to surf it really bad, but Robert doesn't surf, I didn't have a board and we had bigger and better things ahead of us.


I shouldn't have ate that avocado. Man, it made my lips explode. I must be allergic! Haha... just kidding. I don't know what the heck these were, but we had quite the laugh with them!

The biggest banyan tree I've ever seen. I just had to climb it! This was at Rainbow Falls.

We hiked around to the top of Rainbow Falls. Probably weren't supposed to be there, but you only live once!

One of Robert's best friend's parents actually live in the city of Volcano near Volcanoes National Park. We stopped in to say hello and had a wonderful lunch before getting a tour with them of the park. Above is the Kilauea caldera in the background. It's been erupting since 1983!

While VNP wasn't my favorite part of the island I think there's definitely some fun hikes to be had here. I kept imagining the crazy trail runs and races they could have in the park. By the way, hiking at mid-day on top of black lava rock is HOT! Not Florida hot, but hot enough!

If Jenny was with me I had a feeling we'd be running this trail! :-)




After hitting up VNP and the area around Hilo it was time to get back to the Kona side of the island. We started off early and did the epic Saddle Road drive that crosses between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, the two tallest peaks in all of Hawaii. Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano and also home of multiple observatories. Scientists and astronomers love it up there because of the lack of light pollution and the high elevation making it one of the best places to star gaze on Earth. It's also home of the Keck Telescope, which is 8-stories high! If you're a space geek like myself all of this is fascinating, but I won't bore you with it.

The drive up Saddle Road is almost as fun as the destination, the top or nearly the top of Mauna Kea (13,796 feet). It truly is an epic drive where 4x4 or AWD is recommended.

The last half mile or so has to be hiked to the official summit. Robert and I found we had the summit to ourselves for nearly 2 hours in the middle of the day. We took turns running the route back in forth until we were both clearly hypoxic.

Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world (once you take away the ocean) at around 33,000 feet. That's taller than Everest, but not higher. Definitely worth a hypoxic handstand!

Yoga anyone??? Note: Robert and I switched jackets since mine had a hood and he wanted to go back to the car to retrieve something. The crazy thing about being up there was if you were in the wind it was really cold, but if you moved away from the windward side of the summit it was pleasant.

Yup, that item he went to retrieve was our boardshorts, snorkels and dive masks. How many people do you think have stood on top of Mauna Kea ready to swim? The Big Island is one of the few places in the world that I know of where you can be surfing and snow skiing in the same day. There wasn't any snow on top of Mauna Kea while we visited, but a lot of the year does have snow pack.

We stayed up there for sunset. Quite a few people showed up for sunset so we weren't alone anymore. The temperature dropped down to 36 degrees and it was beautiful. One of my top 10 sunsets! After dusk we headed down to the visitor's center at 9,000 feet where they have amateur astronomy night on Saturdays. There were dozens of large telescopes with people operating them and it was free to view at the Heavens. I looked at Venus through a 16-inch telescope and it looked as big as the Moon does to the naked eye. I could even see the day time side and night time side of the planet. This was hands-down the best star gazing I've ever seen with the Grand Canyon being a close second and aboard a ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean being a third. Sadly, I did not have a film camera, tripod or cable release to do any time-lapse photography.


I did however, have some fun underwater equipment that we played with on our last day in Hawaii all along the northwest coast as we visited the city of Hawi and checked out the Pololu Valley lookout (north of Waipio Valley). The above and below pictures are from the reef only a 100 feet or so off the beach at Lapakahi State Historical Park south of Hawi.

I'll close with a picture of me on the first day after snorkeling the reef at Napoopoo near the Captain Cook Monument. There was a sea urchin shell about 25 feet underwater with the last 10 feet being in a small crevasse of coral. Robert spotted it and asked me to go get it as he couldn't free dive that deep or hold his breath long enough. Me always being up for a challenge said, "ok!" I had no problem getting into the crevasse (not having a tank on my back made it real easy), but as I was swimming out I was more concerned about my head clearance than my legs. I lightly brushed some coral and it sliced open my leg in four different spots! I can't believe I got reef rash and I didn't even get to surf!!! Having experienced scraps from reefs surfing Puerto Rico I was a little concerned about bacteria and polyps. The only thing I could find in my backpack was hand sanitizer. Without thinking I squirted a huge goop of it on the open wound and rubbed it back and forth with my hand. The burn was worse than getting cut in the first place! It was then I learned that it was nearly pure alcohol. Ouch! I might as well have squeezed a lemon on it! Oh well, later on I used some hydrogen peroxide and am happy to report no infection. So that's it. Hawaii! I'll definitely be back and next time I'll bring Jenny and probably check out Oahu and Kauai!


Aloha my friends and Mahalo for reading!