Monday, July 13, 2015

Hiking Koko Head

It's been over a year since I've made any posts but I figure since we are now so far from home it would be the perfect time to start. Soooo I'll start with my birthday last week. Since we moved here we've been trying to be healthier. We're eating better and exercising more. My favorite thing to do is hike! I try to got 2-3 times a week although I'd love to go every day. Koko head has been on my bucket list since before we moved here but I kept saying I'd do it when I  get in better shape. Well I'm in a little better shape and everyone told me that it doesn't matter what kind of shape you're in it's going to be hard.




So the night before my birthday we were watching Hawaii Five-0 and they had a scene where they were running up koko head and one of them fell and sprained their ankle. I jokingly said to Andrew that we should do it for my birthday and he said yeah why not. So we decided that when he got home from work he'd grill us some steaks for my birthday and we'd head out for a sunset hike. I was so nervous!!



We parked at Koko head district park and followed the road to the trail head. Although this trail is only 1.5 miles it raises in elevation by 1200 feet. Here's Hunter at the beginning of the trail.

 

This is the beginning of the trail where the steps weren't too steep. I told Hunter we were going to pretend to be trains but he wanted to be a wolf....

 

Here's the bridge everyone talks about. A lot of people find it too scary and use the trail that takes you around it. I wanted to get the full experience so we took the bridge. I found the bees on the bridge scarier then the height. Andrew ended up carrying Hunter across the bridge. On the way up going across the bridge was actually the easiest part of the trail for me, going down was another story.

 
 
 
They did a whole lot of waiting on me. It was hard!! And I was just being nice and letting Hunter take breaks ;)
 
 

Hunter did sooo good!! He loves making it to our destinations because then he gets to eat his clif bars. Food is good motivation.


And I can't forget our Gru. He did so good too. Andrew carried him in the lillebaby on his back. He didn't fuss at all. 

 

 I can't believe I did it!! I know I said it already but it was hard. It took the boys 52 minutes and I was a few minutes behind them. 

 

 The views were amazing!! The pictures just don't do it justice. The ridge right there in the center is the hike we did last week for sunset, Hanauma Bay ridge. It was beautiful and way easier.


We didn't get to see the sunset because these crazy clouds were blocking the sun. The clouds did help keep us cooler, so the hike wasn't completely miserable. 



 My kid is a beast!! Everyone told me that this hike is too hard for kids so I was waiting till someone (Andrews parents) came to visit and have them babysit for us. Then I figured why not try. Worst thing that could happen is we'd have to turn around. I can say that there is no way I could have worn Grady on my back but Andrew is obviously stronger then me and had no problem.


It was pretty much completely dark before we started to head back down. Luckily Andrew bought us some awesome headlamps. 
 



 Going back down was hard too. Again Andrew carried Hunter down the bridge. I found going down the bridge was the hardest part. I don't know if it was because it was dark or from going down hill while trying to balance on railroad ties.



 But we did it!!!! We made it to the bottom in 45 minutes!! This was quite the experience but I will definitely be doing it again so I can beat my time.
 

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