Eight More Maui Hikes

Last week I posted our first six Maui hikes. Since then, we've hiked eight more trails, ranging from gentle strolls to energetic scrambles.

The photo at the top of this post shows me on a ridge section of the Halemau'u Trail, Haleakala National Park. Dwight is manning both the camera and backpack.

The hike started above the clouds at 8,000 feet, then we zigged and zagged to the bottom of a crater.

My Hawaiian Junk Drawer

Hawaii has a lot going for it. Billboards are illegal, healthcare is almost universal, and the British Union Jack on the Hawaiian flag harks back to a time when these were the Sandwich Islands.

Hawaiians consume more Spam than any other population in the world. You find it on "mixed plates" throughout the state, accompanied by chicken or pork or fish, and scoops of rice and macaroni salad.

Six Maui Hikes

In the past week we've stayed in three different parts of Maui and sampled a variety of hikes.

The most dramatic hike so far on this trip has to be Keonehe'ehe'e (Sliding Sands) Trail. It starts above the clouds, about 10,000 feet up Haleakala. The photo at the top of this post shows the view near the start of the hike.

Around the World in 53 Days

I started my journey around the Northern Hemisphere this morning: I walked to a number 2 bus which took me to a light rail station where I caught a train to the airport.

Long-Haul Journeys

Hidden Cities

The term "hidden city" conjures up all sorts of romantic notions: a Mayan city lost in a jungle; a Soviet-era science city excluded from maps; abandoned tunnels under a city, beyond the rule of law.

It's also part of a strategy some people use to save a lot of money when traveling.

Dreaming of Circling the Globe

The other day I found myself poring over this Google map. Each red dot marks a place I've visited in the past four years. Google has been watching me.

Some places don't count: in Seoul I was in transit to Busan, in Salt Lake City we were on our way to Palm Springs, and in Amsterdam I was in transit to Edinburgh or Newcastle upon Tyne.

You can see dense clusters of red dots. Of course the densest cluster is Minneapolis where I live, but there are clusters in the northeast of England where I grew up, Hawaii, and Japan. These are important physical locations in the place where I live. Place is complicated.

In each of the past four years I made separate trips to both Europe and Asia. This week I found myself wondering what it would mean to aggregate the separate journeys. What would a round-the-world journey look like?

Insufficient Reality

Every hotel room in Hawaii has a book or brochure pushing Hawaii as something to consume. Many first-time visitors are doomed to be unfulfilled by the activities they are seduced into buying.

The experience depicted at the top of this post is dangerous and illegal: volcanic gases and Federal law get in the way. The real thing cannot possibly meet expectations.

Whales leap over boats while people stare at their cameras. Apparently ambulatory families rip along on ATV's oblivious to the natural sounds and vignettes around them. Helicopters break backcountry hikers' solitude as the occupants listen to New Age music on noise-canceling headsets.

We work long hours to pay for not being in the moment.

Lava: It's Scientific Fun!

We walked on lava through fern forests down to two calderas. We rested on chunks of lava with steam rising around us.

Our nephews (7 and 8) were in good spirits but they got a little bored towards the end. To distract I demonstrated how to make a whistle by clamping a grass leaf between the thumbs and blowing. That amused for a mile, or so.

We'd walked past Halemaumau Crater with its high plume of volcanic gases. At night we would see that plume glowing red from our lodge, the Volcano House, in Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park.

Tough Jobs and a Lascivious Senior

I'm on the "wrong" side of Hawaii Big Island: often rainy, no posh resorts, no ocean sunsets, vulnerable to tsunamis. Rich.

This morning I lay in bed watching the sun rise over the Pacific.

A rising sun does not have the easy drama of an ocean sunset. But I can't say a setting sun is better than a rising sun. This rising sun meant I had a full day ahead of me to potter around Hilo on Hawaii's Big Island.

Long Hauls, Cheap Tix

Tomorrow, Monday, I get on a plane.

I've been getting on a plane several Mondays in January and February. A plane to take me to work in Portland, Oregon.

This Monday is no exception, except this time I'm flying on a one-way ticket. I'll work for my client for the last time, then cross the Pacific to Japan via Hawaii Big Island. I'll arrive back home from my adventure in April.

Kauai in a Box

A couple months ago, my partner, Dwight, announced he had some spare vacation days. That was my cue to rush to the computer and put together a trip to the island of Kauai (Hawaii) based on previous visits: Kauai in a Box.

How you approach Kauai depends on your definition of activity.

The Kauai.com list of "top activities" includes ATV rides, helicopter rides, and luaus. 

These activities don't interest us: we've done none of them on our many visits to the Hawaiian Islands.

We build our Kauai around a favorite activity: hiking. I like to feel the trail move under my feet, see the changing perspectives, hear the small sounds around me, smell the dirt, let my mind run free.

Yellow Camaro in Paradise

I don't give a toss about cars. I drive a 1997 Honda Civic as little as possible. It still hasn't clocked 80,000 miles.

In the 1980's when Dwight and I were looking for our first car together, a salesman proudly led us outside. "I have just the car for you guys."

We couldn't believe our eyes: the car was detailed like a racing car. I expected the doors to be welded shut, Dukes of Hazzard-style. This salesmen probably believes he's never talked to a homosexual.

Our (Rented) House on Hawaii Big Island

The family that built this house in 1947 still owns the house. We get to rent it for a week, something we've been doing every other year since 2010.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park 2014

We keep coming back to this park. There's trails at sea level, there's a trail going to almost 14,000 feet to the snow-capped summit of Mauna Loa, and there's plenty trails in between.

Honoka'a after Dark

The hotel duty manager warned me: Honoka'a shuts down by 8:00 p.m.

That's why I'm here.

It's time to go out on the town. At night, this old sugar cane town takes on an unfamiliar hue, reminiscent of sepia-toned photographs from a different time.  I wonder what is going on.

The sodium street lights seem different from the high-pressure sodium lights of the mainland. But why?

There was some layer to be peeled back, so I Googled and learned these are low-pressure sodium lights. And there is a really good reason for this unusual lighting.

Old Hawaii

Honoka'a Theater, still operating.

There are many Hawaiis.

There's the Hawaii of shiny resort hotels, shopping, and activities for purchase.

Then there's the Hawaii of rusting corrugated iron roofs. And there's the Hawaii of trails that predate Cook's first encounter back in 1778. I like to wander through these Hawaiis.

Castles in the Air

Poster on my office wall

It's hard to beat a journey that starts with deicing fluid rumbling onto hollow metal. Before you know it you're six miles above a perfectly blue Pacific. Then, just as the sun is thinking of setting, you arrive in HNL (Honolulu) to a terminal with walls open to fragrant tropical vegetation.

The reality has to be nuanced. Ask the honeymooning couple just off the plane in HNL anxiously waiting for the no-show lei greeter.

Welcome to the Land of Brochure-Speak: there's still time to escape.

Frozen Lakes and Lost Places

Frozen Lake of the Isles, Minneapolis

Kilauea caldera, Hawaii Big Island

"Why do you live in Minnesota?--The winters are too cold. You should move."

I hear this from a person who brought up a family in a Minneapolis suburb. When her husband retired, they moved to a new subdivision in the Arizona desert. There is no good response because I was presented with a false dilemma. Any response would only sound defensive or absurd.

I was pondering that dilemma yesterday. With Arctic air building, I walked across a frozen Minneapolis lake thinking about walks across frozen lakes in warm places.

Artful Living

Who reads this stuff?

Here's some random quotes from Artful Living magazine:

Where your stay is part of defining who you are.
You can join the crowd, or you can leave it behind.
Eat. Shop. Sleep.
Own Chicago. Know the right people.
Make a statement with every second.
"I never thought I would receive so many compliments every day."
As unique as you are.

Who needs this stuff?