Summitting Diamond Head with Lea

  Diamond Head Crater looms just behind the bustling tourist district of Waikiki here on Oahu. The tallest part of the crater rim is only 762' above sea level but the hike up can make it seem much higher. The trail winds up from the bottom of the crater floor about 8/10ths of a mile to the summit. Lea and I headed out early in the morning to tackle this hike before the hot sun made it even more difficult.

   We were pretty lucky, it was a cold morning and lots of clouds kept it overcast almost the whole way. The clouds also made the landscape pictures even more dramatic. We had a few photo stops on the way up but for the most part Lea and I trekked up with no problem. I made sure to take Lea up the extreme path to the top; 99 stairs straight up, a spiral staircase through the bowels of an old military bunker, a squeeze out of the bunker, and a loop up to the very top. The view was amazing!

  From the top we could see Koko Crater on the southeast coast all the way to the Waianai Volcano on the west coast. The whole south shore was laid out in front of us. The only thing we didn't see were whales! I haven't seen my first whale yet this winter but I expect any day now I'll catch a glimpse of the first humpback whale arriving from Alaska.

  I thought I would throw in a couple of funny sign pictures here at the end. The first is me heading beyond the end of the trail to another bunker on the crater rim. The other is Lea reenacting the falling rocks sign that you see occasionally on the trail.