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!

Maui with Nonni

Nonni came to visit a couple of days after Christmas to stay for almost 2 weeks. On the morning of New Year's Eve, we flew to Maui for 5 nights.


We started the trip with a drive out to 'Iao Needle. We had read about it in some guidebooks and decided to check it out. It was a beautiful valley with some nice walking trails around a native plant garden. Nonni was a real trouper as we dragged her along the trails!



Afterward, we headed to the condo in Kihei where we would be staying for the next 3 nights. It was a cute place just a block from the beach. So, after a little unpacking we headed down to enjoy some sand and sun! That evening, Danielle and I were able to go out for a New Year's drink. Many thanks to Nonni!!

Gabbi posing in front of the masks that decorated the condo...

On New Year's Day, I went scuba diving in the morning. We met at 5:45 a.m. and after all of the paperwork, etc. We headed out to Molokini Crater for the sunrise and a back wall dive. The most incredible part of the dive was hearing the whale songs underwater!! It was unreal. We had great views of Kaho'olawe, Lana'i, and Maui from the boat.

The view of Haleakala as we headed to Molokini.

Two dives later, I was done by about 10 a.m. We spent the afternoon at the beach and rode some waves, played soccer, and hung out.




On the following day, Nonni and the girls hung out by the pool for the day so that Danielle and I could take a long hike in Haleakala Crater. It was a great time for us to hike at our own pace and have some time to reconnect. We covered about 13.5 miles and it went by unbelievably quickly!!

We took the Sliding Sands Trail. With its loose sandy soil, we found ourselves stopping to empty out our shoes every so often...

Close up of an 'ahinahina (silversword) in Haleakala.

The clouds seemed to flow from Kaupo Gap up into the crater while we were eating lunch.



On Sunday, it was time for us to pack up and head for Hana. We decided to take the south road and then take the Road to Hana back out on Tuesday. Either way...it is a long drive. Bumpy, winding roads lead to carsickness which makes the trip even longer. We stopped an Ulupalakua winery to sample some of their red and pineapple wines. We bought a few bottles to take with us for the rest of our trip.

We stopped at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge boardwalk to get some energy out before the long ride!

Then, we had a long stretch before our next stop at Oheo Gulch (aka the 7 sacred pools). The lowest pool was pretty crowded, but Danielle and Gabbi braved the jump and took a swim. Then we all walked up to the second pool, which was much less crowded (there were 2 other people in the water). We made another couple of stops for waterfall, but it was so dry that one was completely dry and others were barely a trickle.






Then we stopped for one of the highlights of the trip. Maui Revealed calls it the Venus Pool. A short hike along a cow pasture brings you to a brackish water pool that is gorgeous and incredibly refreshing. To top it off, there are ledges at various heights for you to jump off! Gabbi, especially, loved jumping from a few heights (getting more daring with each jump)! We liked it so much we went back the next morning (and dragged Nonni with use too!)







We had to dodge a little barbed wire on the way out...

After a stop at the Venus Pool (we dragged Nonni there this time), we went to the beach. It is listed as one of the best bodysurfing beaches on Maui...we must not have hit it on its best day. It was however a beautiful beach to relax, dig holes, etc. We had one more stop at another beautiful beach with a view of a sea arch and some nice cliffs.




OK, then came the truly last stop to see a red sand beach on Hana Bay. It was a short hike to a tiny stretch of red sand. We checked it out quickly, then headed back to the cottage for dinner.



The view of Haleakala from Hana.

The view from our cottage (Hale Popolana) in Hana.
The cottage that we stayed in was nice. Right on Hana Bay, cool lava to explore, rustic, lots of coconuts around.

On Tuesday, we got up and went to explore a state park just to the north for the morning. There was a cool black sand beach, lava tube, sea caves. It was a great place to explore.







Then, it was time to pack up, drive the Road (from) Hana, check out Pa'ia, and fly back to O'ahu. We stopped to see some waterfalls along the way. It was a great trip and lots of good quality time with Nonni!!