I had heard about a light house that was on the most northern tip of Hawaii, and I decided to try to watch the sunrise there. I got there where it was still pitch dark(cloudy sky, new moon). There was no one around because the trail to the lighthouse doesn't open until 10 am. Fortunately there was an overlook that was right over the nature preserve. It was by far the spookiest sounding place I have ever heard. One animal sound like a crying baby and the rain drops made it sound like animals were creeping around me! The sunrise was pretty, but at this point I only had my lame ipad camera (the one thing I forgot was a car charger!!).
The rain was going off and on, and I decided to make a run for Amini Beach so I could get myself in the water- it was so clear that could see my feet and the clouds looked beautiful over the island. My goal was to continue on the north side on my way to kalalau and I headed to Hanalei Bay. When I got there, I ran along the beach for a while enjoying the break from the rain and the beautiful landscape. Apparently this bay is a hotspot for SUPing and Kayaking...in mid April....right now though, waves were crazy and NO ONE was in the water.
I wanted a bit more exercise, so I headed a bit back to Princeville into resort land. Each resort has a mini private beach that you can hike down to and then climb back up. After two mediocre beaches and more rain, I found the disastrously muddy and steep path to Hideaways Beach. It had a rope and some railing, and bea use of the slippery mud, I was clinging on to them for dear life!
It was a beautiful beach that I had all to myself minus one lone surfer. I hadn't brought big daddy ipad on the path, so I'm going to try to return on a sunny day and get some pics. I was so muddy from slipping all over the path on the way down, that I got in the water immediately. The waves were pulling hard and there were huge rocks so I didn't go deep, but I could see a lot of fish and I was wishing I had my snorkel (although now thinking back, it probably would have been a bit dangerous).
So I was kind of coming to a dilemma. My permit for the trail is for the 22nd, but it has been raining like crazy. I could hang up north and attempt the trail OR I could head down south looking for more sun and come back to do the trail towards the end of the trip and hope it's dried out a bit. I wouldn't feel horrible going on a date that is not mine, because I did already pay and I'm only one person. I have a feeling though that it's going to be rainy every single day and I'm just going to have to be ready to take advantage of all the breaks in the clouds. There are enough for me to get outside quite a bit but more and more of my clothes are getting soaked :/
I needed to charge my battery and make some decisions, so I went to the hostel in Kapaa. They had a big table where I could sit, charge up, and look up the weather on the Internet. If you've ever stayed at a hostel, you know all the usual suspects: guy who has been more places, cheaper, more extreme and more local than anyone else, guy who is content to sit smoking all day, Eurogirl who smokes endlessly, nerdy girl who is geeking out with trail maps and schedules (that's me!), etc...
I chatted for a bit with some people for a bit, but as soon as there was a break I got on my run gear and took off on their multiuse trail that goes along the beach. I got a good 9 miles-all sunny!!!! and then treated myself with a shaved ice!
Now came the hammock set up. I started to the camp ground early because I knew I would need a while. And to my surprise, no one was around:(. At Amini, there were tons of campers, who could potentially help me, but here, empty.
I set up the hammock easily using a spare caribeener to make it just reach. I felt pretty successful until tarp time. First of all, rei only had the 12 foot, not the 9, so I was working with a ton of material. Second of all, it was really windy. I really thought the wind was going to fly me across hawaii. I must have looked SO ridiculous. I finally got it staked down (I had no guy line, so it was tight right over the hammock). And got ready to crawl in.
Yep, I came crashing down.
That caribeener I had found, was a POS and broke right apart. I lay for a minute, exhausted from the setup and then pulled everything down. It was dark and still windy but not raining and pretty warm so I set the hammock up right beside the car using the car to block for wind and hoped for no rain.
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