Ch...ch...ch...changes

Well, I am way behind...but, it has been quite a hectic couple of months plus since my last post. About 6 weeks ago I received an offer and accepted a job as natural resource planner for the Fish and Wildlife Service in the Northeast Regional Office in Hadley, MA.

So, tomorrow the movers finish packing our worldly possessions in boxes and crates to be shipped 6,000 miles across the Pacific the across the continent. We will have one more night on O'ahu at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Their kama'aina rate combined with the water slides just can not be beat. That will be followed by a Wednesday night red-eye with a Thursday noonish arrival in Hartford.

I will be trying to get caught up...in the meantime, a few pictures of what we have been up to!

President's Day weekend

I had an extra long weekend with Friday off and then the holiday Monday. We had a lot of fun!

We had our friend Tai over for dinner on Thursday night and finally made chocolate fondue with our fondue set that we have had for a very long time!! We had a great time hanging out with Tai for the evening!


One of the other highlights of the weekend was heading to the north shore on Sunday. We started the day with a hike out to Ka'ena Point, which is the northwest corner of the island. It is about a 5 mile round trip. We saw some whales during the hike out that were showing off with some flipper slaps. Then we saw about 20-30 nesting albatross including a couple of recent hatchlings! There were also a couple of monk seals resting on the rocks at the point. It was a beautiful day and not as hot as this very exposed hike can be!




You can make out the flipper just left of center in the water. If only those humpbacks would pose for us, we could get better pictures!

Laysan Albatross with chick. These are big birds that spend most of their lives at sea. The oldest known albatross is about 70 years old!


It is a little tough to see the monk seals sleeping in the center of the picture, but they are there! Hawaiian monk seals are one of the most endangered types of seals in the world with about 1,000 left in the wild!

The view from Ka'ena Point looking south toward West O'ahu.

We even saw our friends Mike, Stephanie, and Dylan from Alaska. We hoped to see them and had already made plans to hike with them on Monday. I used to work with Mike in Massachusetts and we saw them while they were on vacation in Alaska and we were there while I was on a work detail a couple of years ago.


After our hike, we met up with our friends; Stella, Zoe, Talulah, Cristoff, Hazel, Gretchen, Bruce, Kris, and Joe at a pretty secluded spot. We had a great afternoon hanging, swinging in the Banyans and watching the sunset. We followed it up with dinner in Hale'iwa. Kua aina was not our first choice, but it was delicious!


On Monday we met up with Dylan, Stephanie and Mike to hike Olomana. It is one of our favorite hikes with some beautiful views and some rock scrambling to get to the top. There are actually three peaks and on previous hikes we have been working our way in stages through the challenging portions near the top. This time we made it to the second peak and our sights are firmly set on the third!

At the top of the first peak!

View of the second peak!


Heading back from the second peak.


The view of Kailua and the Mokuluas from the second peak.


Back at the first peak on our way down.


The view looking north.


Next time....the third peak!

Kalalau Trail

had chance a few weeks ago to hike part of the Kalalau Trail on Kaua'i. I was on island running public meetings and had a few hours to spare.


The trail runs along the Na Pali coast on the north shore of Kaua'i. So, I got to the trailhead right about sunrise with visions of a 12 mile round trip to Hanakoa Falls. With a side trip to Hanakapi'ai Falls if time permitted.

The surf was coming up and I saw some pretty big waves from up above!

It had rained quite a bit on Tuesday night, so I was anticipating some muddy conditions. Sure enough there was plenty of mud and the stream crossings were a bit challenging.

I made great time all the way to Hanakapi'ai Stream (2 miles in). I took my shoes off (I had not gotten too wet or muddy at this point) and crossed the stream without too much difficulty.


I decided to take the detour to Hanakapi'ai Falls now while I had plenty of energy. I had to cross the stream 2 more times on the way to the falls and did not bother taking my shoes off any more... The falls and valley were gorgeous. I had yet to see another hiker and saw extra falls cascading down the valley walls from the previous nights rains.

I really like the look of bamboo forests in Hawai'i (I know they are not native)

Falls along the wall of Hanakapi'ai Valley.

Hanakapi'ai Falls

Then I headed along to Hanakoa. The entire hike was absolutely beautiful. Fewer people hike past Hanakapi'ai, but I did meet a couple of backpackers on their way out from a couple of days in the valleys along the coast.




I was still making good time when I reached the split for Hanakoa Falls. I had read that the trail could be difficult to follow and went in and out of the stream bed. With the fresh rain, I found the trail impossible to follow, but it was only a third to a half mile in, so I was determined! At one point about 10 minutes up Hanakoa Stream, I followed what seemed like the trail, but it definitely turned out to be a pig trail... As I worked my way along, I was looking for the real trail. Next thing I knew I had stepped into vegetation with no ground below it. I crashed to the ground and let out a yell! My knee hurt and I lay for a second assessing my situation... I gave myself a good 5 -10 seconds and stood up. My knee was kind of screaming at me, but other than that I seemed o.k.

My left knee was bleeding, but not too badly. I started to work my way back down (giving up on seeing the 1400 foot falls was not an easy decision, but I think the right one...). I looked at my knee again and thought that it had swollen really quickly and took another look...it wasn't swollen it had a rock embedded in it. I pulled the rock out and started to bleed a little more, but nothing too horrible. After that my pace slowed considerably, but I tried to focus on the view and just working my way back.

Pre-rock removal...

Once I got back to the more popular section of the trail, I got some interesting looks and a few comments, since most of my left shin was covered in blood. I still finished up the hike by just after one, got myself cleaned up, first aid supplies at Foodland, and counted myself incredibly lucky that it was not worse!

I did stop for this self-portrait on the way out!

Aerial Fabrics and Trapeze for Adults!

In early January, Samadhi offered trial aerial silks and trapeze classes for adults!!

Of course, Danielle and I went. It was a blast. Danielle had taken class in the past, but I had always watched from the sidelines. The class was really, really crowded.


First, was the trapeze class. It is not "flying" trapeze, but a fun apparatus for testing strength and flexibility.


Then we walked across the street to Kaka'ako waterfront park to snack, play tag and wait for the Tissu II trial class (hoping the crowd would diminish...) We played tag in the rain for a bit and walked along the ocean, before venturing back to the studio.

Jamie split us into groups and "encouraged" me to join the more experienced group...I guess she counted hours and hours of watching as experience.

I was surprised at how I was able to translate watching to doing...

Danielle is so graceful and strong!! As always, I was incredibly impressed!


It was a ton of fun!!