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shannon_aThis morning, my dad and I decided to walk the Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail. This is a trail that runs east from Poipu along the undeveloped shoreline. I've actually walked the start of it before. It begins along some bluffs. Actually, they're bluffs that you can see in Six Days, Seven Nights where two of the stars (or likely their stunt doubles) jump from the cliffs into the ocean, a popular sport that sometimes leads to death". My dad and I did not jump.
I've walked this as far back as 2001, when Kimberly and I first came to Kauai for a "once in a lifetime vacation", but it was so far from our condo that by the time we'd walked out there, we didn't do much more than look down from the cliffs. We also tried to walk it a few years ago, but Kimberly found the cliffs unnerving.
Anywho, dad and I walked much more of it this time. We mostly walked out via the coastline, seeing absolutely beautiful views all up and down the south shore. But, that's not really where the proper trail is. So several times we had to assess how to get around cliffsides that were too narrow and/or looked too unsupported. (Which is what Kimberly found unnerving.) At one time we went way down to the beach and that had to climb up a steep hill of sand. It was exhausting! (And that's when sand got in one of my pockets. I had to empty it out to protect my phone.)
Eventually we turned a corner to a pretty shallow bay and came along the golf course that's just inland and there was a big impressive black rock wall holding up the side of the golf course. (A retaining wall, I think? There was another name for it at the park we saw in Spain.) There were also some ancient Hawaiian ruins here, but it was hard to tell which things were ruins. We turned around about there, which looks like it might have been just more than halfway up the trail.
For the way back, we did a better job of walking the proper trail, which is away from the cliffs and seaside and didn't involve climbing up any huge sand dunes. We later compared some step-tracker apps and it looks like we walked out about 2 miles, winding back and forth along the coast, then back about a mile, in a much straighter line. Both were a lot of fun, and I definitely want to go to the end of that trail ... which is something I can certainly do next year.
After lunch and hanging about a bit in the afternoon, my dad and I went out to Salt Pond Beach, the other closest beach to the house, to the west, past Hanapepe.
It's more of a "locals" beach without either bells or whistles, but a good swimming beach, because there's a long space to swim north to south along the beach.
The south is marked by a wall of rocks, which waves constantly crash over, causing a really notable current along the shoreline from the rocks in the south northward. My dad and I swam out to the rocks, which was exhausting. (I'm looking forward to improving my swimming physique when we move here.) Then for the first hundred or two hundred feet back, in the area marked by the rocks, it was practically like riding a water slide. After that we had to actually swim to go north, but not with much effort.
It's a fun swim in part for its strong flow patterns.
And that was pretty much full day #2. Well, other than the delicious lobster dinner that Mary fixed. I always put on weight when I'm in Hawaii, and this time I've tried to fight that by minimizing the amount of extra food I brought. But we still get endless delicious meals, with food followed by nuts and fruits and desserts and ...
We certainly don't feel the need to rush about and do too much stuff in Kauai these days. And we both love the relaxation of just sitting, reading, listening to the wind in the trees.
I've walked this as far back as 2001, when Kimberly and I first came to Kauai for a "once in a lifetime vacation", but it was so far from our condo that by the time we'd walked out there, we didn't do much more than look down from the cliffs. We also tried to walk it a few years ago, but Kimberly found the cliffs unnerving.
Anywho, dad and I walked much more of it this time. We mostly walked out via the coastline, seeing absolutely beautiful views all up and down the south shore. But, that's not really where the proper trail is. So several times we had to assess how to get around cliffsides that were too narrow and/or looked too unsupported. (Which is what Kimberly found unnerving.) At one time we went way down to the beach and that had to climb up a steep hill of sand. It was exhausting! (And that's when sand got in one of my pockets. I had to empty it out to protect my phone.)
Eventually we turned a corner to a pretty shallow bay and came along the golf course that's just inland and there was a big impressive black rock wall holding up the side of the golf course. (A retaining wall, I think? There was another name for it at the park we saw in Spain.) There were also some ancient Hawaiian ruins here, but it was hard to tell which things were ruins. We turned around about there, which looks like it might have been just more than halfway up the trail.
For the way back, we did a better job of walking the proper trail, which is away from the cliffs and seaside and didn't involve climbing up any huge sand dunes. We later compared some step-tracker apps and it looks like we walked out about 2 miles, winding back and forth along the coast, then back about a mile, in a much straighter line. Both were a lot of fun, and I definitely want to go to the end of that trail ... which is something I can certainly do next year.
After lunch and hanging about a bit in the afternoon, my dad and I went out to Salt Pond Beach, the other closest beach to the house, to the west, past Hanapepe.
It's more of a "locals" beach without either bells or whistles, but a good swimming beach, because there's a long space to swim north to south along the beach.
The south is marked by a wall of rocks, which waves constantly crash over, causing a really notable current along the shoreline from the rocks in the south northward. My dad and I swam out to the rocks, which was exhausting. (I'm looking forward to improving my swimming physique when we move here.) Then for the first hundred or two hundred feet back, in the area marked by the rocks, it was practically like riding a water slide. After that we had to actually swim to go north, but not with much effort.
It's a fun swim in part for its strong flow patterns.
And that was pretty much full day #2. Well, other than the delicious lobster dinner that Mary fixed. I always put on weight when I'm in Hawaii, and this time I've tried to fight that by minimizing the amount of extra food I brought. But we still get endless delicious meals, with food followed by nuts and fruits and desserts and ...
We certainly don't feel the need to rush about and do too much stuff in Kauai these days. And we both love the relaxation of just sitting, reading, listening to the wind in the trees.