Makapu'u Ridge

This past Saturday was one of our rare rainy days on O'ahu. Generally, we'll get a five to ten minute passing shower. But as (I hear) they say in England, it was "chuckin' it down!"

The forecast was for rain across the island, but we had been talking about going for a hike. We decided to head to the southeast corner of the island (which also tends to be one of the drier spots). Sure enough, within a mile or so of the point, the rain had slowed to a mere drizzle.

Right near the beginning of the hike we spotted these beautiful cactus flowers growing near the trail.

We've hiked the point, out to Makapu'u lighthouse a number of times (including a full moon hike). This time we sprinted across the road to hike along the ridge that forms the start of the Ko'olau Mountains. We started up what seemed like an old access road and worked our way up to a lookout. We built a cairn along the way.

We picked some prickly pear fruit to bring home, Then spent the rest of the day picking tiny sharp hairs (called glochids) out of our fingers and arms.

From there, we kind of lost the trail and spent the next half hour picking our way through, grass (thankfully there are no ticks here), prickly pear cacti, some nasty thorns, and lava rock formations. Eventually we worked our way back to the trail. We enjoyed some great views (despite the clouds) and got a little a freaked out when the girls got too close to the edge! (Danielle said that it kind of reminded her of a hike we did with my parents in Yosemite.)

The surf was up at Makapu'u Beach ( a great boogie boarding spot!)

The view of Sea Life Park below. It's on our list of places to go.

Makapu'u lighthouse in the distance.

The ladies with Manana and Bird Islands in the background.


It was tough to motivate to go with it raining so hard at the house, but we're really glad that we did!

After the hike we stopped at Shriners to swim. It's the rock wall formed "pool" in the ocean where Magnum used to swim in the TV show...