USA – Globitrotter

Hawaii

Our two weeks in Hawaii we regarded as a “vacation in the vacation”. Although we did some camping, hiking and sightseeing on the Big Island we have spent many days just hanging around the hotel, pool or beach without doing much at all. It has been great since the weather has been perfect with tropical temperatures without being too hot. The water is also warm enough for me to swim in without any larger issues (I really do not like cold water).

The pool at the Sheraton Waikiki. If you do decide to go to Waikiki we can really recommend this hotel. On the more expensive side but well worth it.

About a week we have been hanging in Waikiki which might be the most famous place in Hawaii with a nice beach, an abundance of restaurants and bars and hotels. The first two days before we went to the Big Island we actually got two nights in a luxury hotel free of charge from the travel agency where we booked our flights. That was really a treat and we hardly left the hotel for the entire time. They had a very pool by the beach and nice restaurants.

On the Big Island the main theme was volcanoes but we managed to spend some time on the coast as well. Kailua-Kona, on the west coast, turned out to be a very cosy little town with nice sunsets. If you want to escape the crowds in Waikiki this might be an alternative. Only thing is they don’t have a lot of nice, long, sandy beaches on the Big Island which might be what you are looking for in Hawaii.

Sunset in Kailua-Kona.

Unfortunately the volcanoes were not very active at this point. There was no place we could see lava which we were hoping for. We did have a pretty cool outing to the top of Mauna Loa, one of the two high volcanoes on the island. It is higher than 42oo m and we camped on the summit. It was hard carrying everything up there. Obviously we are not used to the altitude anymore after spending more than 2 months on sea level… We made it eventually and it was a lot more windy than we thought. But the views were nice and worth the effort.

Pinching the tent at the summit at sunset.

At the summit with the crater in the background. It is always cold above 4000 m, even in Hawaii.

For the last 5 days at Waikiki we had decided to treat ourselves a nicer hotel with a balcony for lazy mornings and the afternoon glas of wine or beer. We booked a balcony with pool view to avoid facing a street with lots of traffic. We were upgraded and ended up a bit higher so that we could also see the sea from our room. Nice.

The pool from our balcony at night.

The view from the balcony in the afternoon.

Tomorrow we leave for New Zealand where it is spring and probably about the same temperatures as in California. But summer is coming, again… 🙂

Here you can see more images from Hawaii:

Hawaii

Halloween in Waikiki

The day we returned to Waikiki after spending one week on the Big Island it happened to be Halloween. This was of course nothing we kept track of and were very surprised to find that the main street was full of people dressed up as all sorts of things.

We saw tigers, polar bears, frogs, bees, angels, devils, birds, Chip and Dale, Ironman, Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Leia, Luke Skywalker, doctors, nurses, patients, police, convicts, Pacman, Angry Birds, Super Marios, the Hulk, pirates, zombies, scary looking people and of course the people that are just wearing as little as possible just to get the attention.

We had a lot of fun just walking around looking at the spectacle. It reminded me a lot of the Halloween I spent in Castro, San Francisco, more than ten years ago. The difference being there was less alcohol in Waikiki, everyone seemed sober and it was really quite calm although lots of people. Everyone wanted to be photographed with the best dressed and often it was impossible to move because a photo session was going on with a Batman, a bunch of crayons (yes, people dressed up like crayons with different colors) or an octopus and Jack Sparrow meeting. The street performers had a rough night when the normal people were stealing all the attention. 🙂

A guy taking pictures of the Hulk and the Black Widow

My personal favorite, the cookie.

No dress up party without a Darth Vader. We saw a number of different Vaders with different costumes. This one was one of the better.

Wondering where to go next Halloween? Waikiki is not a bad place.

Adjusting to the environment

A couple of weeks ago we realized something. We like hiking peaks, ridges and anything with a view really. Hiking through a lot of forest we usually do because we have to just to get above the tree line which is where it gets interesting (we think). We have avoided all trails that are completely in the forest and flat and it was easy to do so as long as we were in the mountains. Now we find ourselves more along beaches and rolling hills rather than steep mountains. This makes it harder for us to find something we want to do and we end up drinking a lot of coffee and tea instead of moving. We had to stop buying brie cheese, bread and chocolate because I was gaining weight. Something has to be done, obviously, because I really like those three things.

One day we hiked through a pretty nice forest in order to watch fish jump up a water fall. That was cool, but the hike was quite boring. We discussed though how nice it would be to run on a trail like that. Imagine instead of running on streets or on a treadmill, which we are used to, we could run on this soft and interesting trail with rocks, roots and steps. This is where we decided we needed some more gear.

Nice trail for running on Vancouver Island.

Since we had left our running shoes at home we had to go shopping. Our running shoes are made for pavement so they would not be very suitable anyway. We needed something that can handle water, mud, rocks and slippery roots. Off we went to our favorite store, REI, and bought shoes and backpacks. The backpacks we have are intended for hiking and a lot more weight so they did not work either. Out we came 500 dollars poorer but with equipment that will keep us busy and fit during our travels.

On the beach at Ozette.

We tried our new gear at Ozette in Olympic National Park. Here we found a loop, a 3 mile trail leading out to the beach, along the beach for 3 miles and then 3 miles back on another trail. We ran the first 3 miles, walked along the beach which was filled with drift wood and rocks, and ran back again. It was great! Hiking through the forest to get to the beach would have been boring but now it was fun! The trail was like a board walk through thick, lush, moist forest. Anyone who have played Temple Run knows what I am talking about. This was like the live version except minus the coins, power ups and monkeys chasing you (well, I did have Andy running behind me…)

Having a break before running back.

We have done a few more runs along the coast and it is really quite fun. I have noticed that my cardio fitness might not be the best but we have time to improve that…

Hiking in Grand Teton National Park

After visiting an over crowded Yellowstone it was nice coming to Grand Teton where it was easier to escape the crowds. Although some places were also here very popular, like Inspiration point.

The second day in Grand Teton we decided to do a proper hike. I thought we had decided that anything more than 25 km was a too long day hike. But somehow we ended up hiking a loop that was totally 32 km and with an elevation gain of about 1800 m. Surprisingly it went very well. I was still fresh after 25 km and it was only the last few km that were hard. For some reason it is always the last few km no matter how long the hike was. I am guessing there are two reasons we so easily walked over 30 km. First reason is that the maximum elevation was only 10700 feet and not over 14000 feet that we are used to from Colorado. Second reason is that the views were amazing, this is the kind of hike that just makes you happy. We passed small lakes, high mountains, wild animals and everything was surrounded with an incredible amount of wild flowers. It was just so beautiful everywhere.

Here are images from our Grand Teton stay.

Once we got down I was pretty tired though and it was nice to have some dinner along Jackson Lake in the evening sun.

Yellowstone

I do understand why so many visit Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. It is a very beautiful area that features the highest concentration of geysers in the world, many exciting wild animals and incredible views. Everything is also very convenient and you do not have to walk very far from your car to see it all. This makes it a handy place to visit for families and people that might not be very fit for different reasons.

Unfortunately as we were there it was over crowded, it was difficult to find parking spaces and it was hard to move around in your own pace. Since we are not very fond of mass tourism we got a bit stressed and did not stay long in the park.

We did not see any bears or wolves but we did catch a glimpse of bison, elk and deer. Some of our photos you can see below.

To hike a 14er

By now we have been on the peak of half of the 55 14ers in Colorado. You might wonder why we have to climb that many. Once you have hiked a few you get hooked and want more. Although they are all about the same height they are all different. The hike itself can be easy walking or partly technical climbing. There are usually several ways up a 14er and we have chosen both easy and harder routes. The harder ones are the favorites since they feature less people and more fun. The view is different on each peak even if they sometimes are very close to each other. Sometimes there are green rolling hills around, sometimes rugged ridges and rock faces. The crowd is always different, you might be alone on the peak or trying to find a spot to sit down among dozens of people.

Below is a photo album from this years adventures in Colorado.

Since there are many thunderstorms in the mountains this time of year it takes some planning to avoid getting stuck on a peak when lightning strikes. According to our experience the clouds starts forming around 10 am and usually the first rain starts somewhere between 12 and 2 pm. We do not like hiking in rain so naturally to avoid it we get up very early in the morning to make it to the top when the sky is still blue and start heading down when we see small fluffy clouds that in no time will transform into dark rain clouds. This means that for a longer hike where more peaks are combined or there is a very long approach we start hiking before 4 am. Just after 5 am it is light enough to hike without a head lamp and usually the first part of the hike is not so difficult to find. Another good thing about starting early is that it is cool and very nice hiking temperature. For easier hikes we might not start until between 6 and 7 am.

On the trail as the sun is rising. (Mt Bierstadt)

The weather seem to be something that people does not care much about until they are in it. We are usually among the first ones on the trail. Does people not read the weather report? Have they not seen what the weather has been like the past weeks? It is always the same according to our experience. On basically every peak most people will barely make it to the top to get a good look at the view before the clouds roll in. These people will most probably get caught in the rain coming down but will at least be off the peak before the thunderstorms hit. Then there is always the guy we call the 11 o’clock man (or woman). Usually this is one person hiking alone who starts heading up the mountain around 11 am as we are almost down again. He will definitely not make to the top before it starts raining and will have to turn around without even reaching the peak unless he wants to risk getting hit by lightning. This must be very frustrating, going through so much for nothing. We are equally fascinated every time.

It is very obvious which are the popular peaks and not. On a few peaks we have been alone, maybe meeting a few people on the way, and on other there have been crowds. The popular ones are naturally those where you can reach a trailhead with a normal 2wd car and still do not have to hike too far. It is amazing though what people put their 2wd’s through to reach a trailhead. We saw one very sporty car, probably even lower than the original model, on a very obvious 4wd trailhead. He must have damaged his car driving to and from this trailhead. Is it worth it?

One of the more popular peaks, Grays Peak.

Clothing is another interesting thing. I think it is quite cold on a 14er, the wind is usually strong and the air cold. I could not make it without long pants and long sleeves, usually a windstopper on top of a long sleeved and a short sleeved merino wool shirt. The most Americans though are wearing short (for girls usually very short) pants and often tank tops or t-shirts. My body would scream and refuse to work if I would wear that. I can not possibly hike fast enough to warm my body during these conditions. Maybe on the peak they will put a thin wind jacket on before they hurry down again after taking the obligatory peak photos. It was very obvious as we were hiking Mt Shavano. A lady started just after us and had about the same pace. As the sun came out we stopped to put on sun block on our faces and put on a extra jacket because we were now above the tree line and the temperature had dropped and the wind was chilly. She stopped at the same time, also to put sun block on but she also took her jacket off and zipped off her pants! Does the American bodies work differently or are we just incredibly cold??

The summary is that we can only warmly recommend hiking 14ers in Colorado. It is a beautiful and friendly area with peaks that will fit everybody.