Adventure Travel Photography Blog
I just recently posted about South Park Trail and the hike I completed the following day, Bruno Gulch, intersects this trail at a location farther south. That tidbit of information isn’t terribly important if you are only looking for a short and easy hike, but if you are looking for more distance, these two trails may be hiked together as a point-to-point.
GO HIKING!
Another month at home in Colorado during COVID equals another weekend at Estabrook, our family ranch near Bailey, Colorado. This time, a friend of mine, Tina, came up from New Mexico. She is a nuclear scientist, and I really enjoy our intellectually stimulating conversations. Such chats have sometimes been lacking during my retirement years.
Anyway, she is also a hard core hiker and definitely ran me through the ringer during the early hiking season in Colorado. While she is already in better shape than me, she had additional advantages. She lives at a higher altitude in Albuquerque, and has already been enjoying hiking weather.
Aside from the usual hike we do on our property, we set out on two more hikes for the weekend. The first was Shelf Lake and the second was Rolling Creek.
HIKE AWAY!
So the COVID crisis has kept me state side since the end of March. That is a long time for me, especially while remaining in the same state the whole time. Fortunately, I live in the beautiful state of ColoRADo, and there are lots of outdoor activities to keep residents busy. Unfortunately, April and May tend to be “mud season” in the mountains, so the trails aren’t always inviting.
GO HIKING!
After four weeks of island hopping, I joined my friends in the Solomons after an unusual connecting flight through Fiji. The gentleman in my row asked me to carry his alcohol through immigration. I’m sure it was just due to a limit, but entering a foreign country, I politely replied, “No, thank you.” Upon a second attempt, to which I said no again, he told me I wasn’t being very nice!
A few folks behind us overheard, and at the end of the flight, they wanted to know more. In the end, I learned, one lady sails her boat around the world. Envious, I said, I wish I met you while in Vanuatu, I always find myself wanting to be on islands that are only accessible to boats. She told me for the future, I could just go to a website call Crew Seekers. Hello! That’s how I’ll be doing some of my future trips.
EXPLORE
My first day staying in Volcano Village, I spent exploring west of town on the Ka’u Coast and then ate lots of macadamia nuts at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Visitor Center before spending a peaceful hour in Liliʻuokalani Park and Gardens in the late afternoon. I spent the entire second day in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
LET’S GO
Having been on the Big Island for four days now, I finally set foot in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, one of the biggest reasons for me visiting the Big Island. Though I researched the park before coming to make sure it was accessible due to the eruption of Kīlauea Volcano that damaged countless homes, I still wasn’t sure what to expect.
I learned 90% of the park is open, though a few popular places such as the Jagger Museum and the Thurston Lava tube are still closed due to instability. I was also surprised to learn that the lava flow was mostly northeast of the park in Leilani Estates.
In addition, the eruption drained the lava from the collapsed Pu’u ‘O’o Crater, so hiking at night to see the lava glow wasn’t an option. Though slightly disappointed by this, it made the logistics of when and where to go a lot easier!
LET’S GO
Upon my arrival on the Big Island of Hawai’i, I spent three days exploring the Hamakua Coast, the Kohala Coast, and the Kona Coast before I transferred over to the east side of the Island near Hilo. Since I was most interested in hiking in the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, I rented a VRBO near Volcano Village. I ended up in a little piece of paradise.
LET’S GO
After a full 12 hour day driving the Hamakua Coast from Kona yesterday, I opted for the closer Kohala Coast today. It still felt like a lot of driving, and if I had it to do over again, I’d probably just stay in Waikoloa Village at one of the resorts and relax a little more given my short time here. That said I have a problem with FOMO, fear of missing out, so I had to see everything!
LET’S GO
My first stop on my six-week adventure of island hopping was to the Big Island of Hawaii. I only allotted a week of time, and I quickly learned this was not enough. Each side of the island, Kona on the west coast and Hilo on the east coast each deserve a week with all the optional side trips and a few days of relaxation.
During my time in Kona, I spent a day exploring the Hamakua Coast. While I saw many places, each stop was very brief, and it was a very full day of driving. If I had to do it over again, I’d limit my stops to about three places at which to spend more time rather than feeling like I was always in the car. Anyway, these are the places I visited.
EXPLORE!
Little Cottonwood Canyon is located in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest approximately 15 miles east of Salt Lake City. It was created by a glacier many years ago. Its quartz and granite, mined by the Latter Day Saint pioneers, was used to construct the Salt Lake Temple. There are several excellent trails in Little Cottonwood Canyon, though my favorites are quite long.
GO HIKING …