We got up early to go meet Courtney's Meetup hiking group. About 20-25 people showed up to do what turned out to be a pretty serious 7.5 mile hike! We did the Koko Crater Loop hike starting on the beach side which meant we hiked up the back side of the crater and over this intense, natural rock arch. I'll update some pictures from my GoPro and from the Meetup group.
At the top of the hike Lily, our leader, popped open a bottle of champagne and everyone got a splash in a plastic cup to celebrate two of the local hikers' birthdays. I was shocked that they hauled that all the way to the top! Just before we got to the top we were chatting with Jim, who is a retired Coast Guard officer. His wife, Tamara, is also a retired Coastie, and she flew helicopters with my co-worker and friend, Claudia. She's also from Minot, ND, where Courtney is from, and her little sister was in the same class as Courtney. Small world! To go down the other side of the crater there are these steep, steep stairs. It was just as steep and maybe 2-3 times as long as the Baxter Stairs in LA near my aunt and uncle's house in Echo Park.
After we finished coming down the stairs, we crossed over to Hanauma Bay for a hike out around the bay and overlooking the ocean.
If you go far enough when the tide is far enough out, you can find the Hanauman Bay rock bridge!
It rained a little on the hike back and Courtney and I both ran out of water with about a half a mile left. Thank goodness it wasn't further because it was hot and we were tired! Fortunately we weren't too tired to miss noticing this important message:
We rewarded ourselves by heading to Kona Brewing Co., and the rest of the hiking group met us there, too. I got a sampler and really liked all of their beer.
Jim's wife, Tamara, aka. the fourth overlapping circle of the Venn Diagram, also met us there.
One of the other hikers, Pat, mentioned a free SUP clinic tomorrow morning at this place called Blue Planet SUP. We stopped by to grab the free passes in case we made it out there Sunday morning, but what we really needed were showers! After we cleaned up we wandered down to Waikiki Beach to check out the Duke Kahanamoku statue. If you don't know of Duke, he's essentially the father of surfing. We ended the evening with açai bowls since we had eaten some tasty food at Kona Brewing Co. These were different from other bowls I had previously, so I guess I'll have to explore more!
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