Two months in a row!!! Sommer and I went hiking every Saturday in June; now every Saturday in July, too! I always wanted to catch the sunset from Ka`ena Point, the western tip of O`ahu. We had planned on doing another sunrise hike, but Hōkūle`a stayed up all night Friday night, not going to bed until 4:00 am Saturday morning! Now I had my excuse to catch the sunset from Ka`ena Point.
We pushed off about a quarter mile from the end of Farrington Highway at the back of Keawe`ula (Yokohama) Beach Park. From experience (and the mounds of broken glass at the end of the road) I know that parking at the end of the road isn't safe for your automobile, especially since we will not be back until well after dark. The extra half mile walk will be worth it in the end. While looking for a place to park a pack of campers showed up in their Lexus and Mercedes-Benz SUVs. They started setting up camp for the night, so I pulled next to their camp, knowing our car would be safe with them nearby. Ka`ena Point is a 5+ mile hike along an old abandoned sugarcane train track that went from Wai`anae, around Ka`ena Point, and up to the sugar refinery in Waialua. There is no shade on this trail and starting at 5:00 pm meant it was going to be HOT. Sommer carried Hōkūle`a in her ErgoBaby and I packed in our water and supplies.
It was hot, but the view of the northern tip of the Waianae Coast is amazing. Waves break on lava rocks and jagged cliffs.
We reached Ka`ena Point about 30 minutes before sunset. We made camp at the old concrete beacon tower and waited for the sun to go to bed.
The sunset was amazing!
YOLO!
Once the sun set we quickly made our back to the trailhead. I didn't expect the trail to get so dark, so fast! By the time we got back to the entrance of the nature reserve it was already dark. There was no moon out and the overcast sky cut any light from the stars. We hiked completely by the light of our flashlights and headlamps. The walk back - though pitch black - wasn't scary (except the unexpected "bellow" from the blowhole about halfway back to the trailhead). The scariest part of the walk back was the quarter mile from the start of the road to where we parked. There were some "unsavory characters" hanging out at the end of the road!
Alive! Cruising Yokohama Bay at 9:00 pm!
Rest of the pictures here. Write up of our last trek out to Ka`ena Point (before baby).
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