Photos 4, page 11
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Hilo Bay Kayak
| September 27, 2007 |
| My first solo kayak trip. Hilo Bay is an ideal spot for kayaking because the breakwater (the fuzzy white line at the top of the image) makes the water in Hilo Bay very calm. For my first trip I paddled around Waiakea Peninsula where all the tourist hotels are and went up the river into the beautiful lagoon in the park in Hilo. Not many pictures because I had my hands full paddling! The green line indicates the trip out and the magenta line indicates the trip back. My apologies for the shitty resolution Google Earth provides for Hilo! |
| There are two of these pretty arched walking bridges in the lagoon. |
Kilauea Iki Hike
| October 7, 2007 |
| Not getting enough hiking in because there's no more lava to chase, I decided to do another hike through Kilauea Iki Crater. Last time (October 9 - gee, almost exactly a year ago!), I practically killed myself by hiking the whole Kilauea Crater too. This time I decided to go easy on myself and just do the Kilauea Iki part of the hiking. Actually, the decision wasn't made until I got to the "Jct. Trails" on the left side of the image near "Rest" where I could have turned left and headed for the Kilauea Caldera. After climbing the side of Iki, I wasn't in the mood for another 5 or 6 miles of hiking! Climbing out of those calderas is brutal! It's seriously steep! By the way, the squiggly marks at "Rest" aren't because I was running around in the woods but rather because I was in the woods and the GPS had a hard time figuring out where it was because it was hard to see the satellites through the trees. |
| Some shots of the trail heading down the side of the Kilauea Iki Crater and a peek at the caldera through the trees. The path down is beautiful, the temperature probably 75 degrees with sunshine filtering down through the trees, birds singing, a gentle breeze... |
| And then I come out at the bottom... |
| Looking back |
| Looking forward |
| Looking back as I start to climb out of the caldera |
| Looking back as I climb out of the caldera |
| Pictures of Kilauea Iki Crater taken from the rim as I head back to the car. In the left and right photos you can see all the way across to the Kilauea Caldera and the Halema'uma'u Crater |
| More pictures from the rim. That's Mauna Loa in the background |
Hilo Bay Kayak, Wailuku River
| October 3, 2007 |
| Today, I decided to go up the Wailuku River, over by the Rt. 19 symbol on the left of the aerial view. Once I got under small rapids and, further up, a small picturesque waterfall. I paddled up to the rapids, then turned around. As I turned, the current caught the kayak and flipped it right over (at "Splash")! No big thing, but I saw my GPS floating away, enclosed in the plastic sandwich bag I'd put it in to protect it from water. I managed to catch it and got the kayak turned back over and got back in my seat. Everything was OK - the only other thing floating around was my tube of sunscreen but the current wasn't bad and it was easy enough to catch it. Good thing I hadn't dumped in the open ocean, though! That might have been a lot worse! Then I realized I didn't have my glasses on! They must have come off at some point and I hadn't even noticed! This was a big deal because those glasses had cost me several hundred dollars. On the paddle back to the car, I worked on getting my mind adjusted to the fact that I was going to have to stop at Wal-Mart or something on the way home and get another pair. Once I got back and was taking stuff out of the kayak and putting it in the car, I discovered my glasses caught on the back of the seat of the kayak! Praise the Lord! What a relief! I made sure to say my thank yous to the powers that be many, many times as I drove home! |
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