Categories
Favorites Hiking Travel

The Honopu Ridge Trail

On September 11, 1992, a category 4 hurricane named Iniki struck the Hawaiian island of Kauai, killing six people and causing billions of dollars of damage. According to NOAA, the damage was so extensive that, after a month, power had been restored to only 20 percent of the island. Wind gusts as high as 175 miles per hour stripped the green from the Garden Isle’s lush vegetation. And the Honopu Ridge Trail hasn’t been officially maintained since that day.

Twenty-six years later, I hiked the remnants of the Honopu Ridge Trail to the most amazing view I’ve ever seen. Photos don’t do it justice.

Categories
Favorites Hiking Travel

Kauai 2013

Last Sunday (November 3, 2013), I returned from a nine-day trip to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The trip was awesome. Kauai is an amazing place with ideal weather, awe-inspiring scenery, chirping endemic birds, and impossibly lush foliage. The island offers endless recreational opportunities and a relaxed, laid-back atmosphere.

And then there are the smells. Kauai smells! Sometimes it’s the pungent odor of fermenting fruit off to the side of a trail, but mostly it’s the sweet aroma of whatever tropical foliage happens to be prevalent where you are. I’ll never forget all of Kauai’s smells.