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| Hiking | 7.26 Miles |
3,337 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.26 Miles | 4 Hrs 25 Mns | | 2.09 mph |
| 3,337 ft AEG | 57 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | We met up with a few guys Jared works with at 7am for a hike up Mt Ka'ala (highest point on the island). After doing this one last May, I'd told myself that I never wanted to do it again... but that was so long ago that it didn't take much (any) convincing to get me to agree to a second trip.
The trailhead was HOT, even first thing in the morning, so we were all sweating already on the first mile of paved road. One of the guys complained that he was tired already, and Jared assured him that this was the worst part. So mean 
The climb up through the wooded section seemed to go on forever, so we stopped for a break around mile 2. My muscles must have thought we were done, because trying to get moving again was hard. When the group stopped for another break about halfway up, I opted to continue on my own instead.
There was lots of scrambling in the final ascent, and Jared caught up to me at the second of two tall rock piles. I was glad to have him there for these sections, as it is pretty dicey. We finished the climb to the top of the ridge, and then heard one of the guys down below swearing as they reached the first rock climbing section. :] I waited while Jared went back down to help.
Once everyone was at the top, there was another half mile or so on a narrow boardwalk through a very lush nature preserve area. We reached the big fenced-in tracking station, which we walked the perimeter of. The views were amazing!! I'm so glad we hiked this one again-- it's a totally different experience when there aren't any clouds at the summit. I also found the survey marker this time, which made me happier than it probably should have.
The climb back down the ridge was treacherous and fun. Once we reached the woods, we all started running like careless idiots, and jogged more or less the whole way back to the cars :] |
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