She might not have caught the bouquet but she is definitely getting hitched, Congratulations Jaime and Steve!

It’s not only breathtakingly beautiful but it feels like heaven on earth after a hell of a hike!

We loved Kaena Point so much we went back the very next day to challenge ourselves with a hillside climb. We had heard from friends that once at the top of the mountain there was some fun climbing

.

Not sure exactly where this “fun” hike was at, we took our best guess and went after the trail we had seen the previous day. The “trail” was not so much a trail… the grass that appeared to be manageable quickly became five feet high with octopus arms that grabbed onto your feet, legs, pants, hair and anything else it could get it’s nasty little grip on. Our “trail” that we thought we could follow was nowhere to be seen so we decided to blaze our own way up the mountain.

After an exhausting battle through the wild grasses we came to a landslide of rocks that made our way much easier. Although the rock climbing was a nice break from the death grass (did we mention it cuts you to pieces and by the end of our hike we were both bleeding in numerous places?) we couldn’t help but think of the landslide that had brought these massive boulders to where they now lay. As we peered up the mountain, giant slabs of volcanic rock threatened down upon us. W’e're not quiters and death grass and rock slide aside we carried on…

Only to stumble upon more and more saw grass as far as the eye could see. Not only was this grass as high and nasty as the previous but it was also covering up more boulders that we carefully had to maneuver. Sketchy is the word to describe this part of the hike. Grabbing onto razor grass to steady your way up the hillside, not knowing if you were going to be stepping onto a rolling rock or down two, three maybe four feet into a hole, or worse yet, could you be walking into a giant centipede nest?

All crazy/scariness aside we made it to the top (or at least as far as we could manage to go) and the view was incredible! We’re pretty sure this is absolutely the best whale watching spot on the island. With such a high vantage point, the very active humpbacks were easy to spot and we even have a new record, 1 whale and 11 breaches!!!

After taking a nice break at the top and checking out the view we set out in search of the climbing spots that our friends had told us about. Ryan set off first and after not hearing or seeing from him for a good 20 minutes I began to call out after him. Of course he had been busy exploring and was completely fine but my imagination had gone crazy! I carefully made my way over to him and followed him to the climbing area he had discovered.

Frightening err terrifying describes this next part. A single rope laying oh so casually over sharp and steep rock leads you to the next challenge and view. We both mustered up the courage to climb a little higher and feed our curiosity as to what lies ahead. Although scary, this first rope climb wasn’t too bad. It led us to yet another landing with another rope. I got about half way up this part and quickly yelled out, “Ok Ok I want down!!”  

and not so fun anymore…

Ryan was brave enough to make it up this climb and even managed to climb a little higher into a little cave. He said that it was definitely “frightening” and there was no way in hell I would have liked it. He described the ledge as covered in bushes and another rock wall, not much to cling to. There was a big cave that he was able to climb into and another cave above it that was way too sketchy to try to climb. All this and a nice sheer cliff waiting at the edge. Too bad I was a pansy and didn’t go up, the cave was about eight feet and would have made a nice resting place. Watching Ryan climb down was enough adrenaline for me and confirmed that I made the right decision to not climb any higher. I’ve always been one for loving to climb up things and I remember as a little girl always crying because I was too scared to get down!

The image below gives you a good idea of how sketchy the last part of this climb is. Those two white ropes you see are the same ones hanging in front of the opening of the large cave in the photos below. Climbing them will take you up to the small cave in the side of the rock wall, but it will also leave you hanging over a shear cliff more than 50 feet tall. Yeah… no thanks!

The hike down was pretty nerve racking as well but we made it and think we might have actually followed a trail this time. We came across more climbing spots with clip ins already set up in the rock, wish we had climbing gear out here with us! Overall, we’re glad we did it and not so sure we would do it again!

Oh, and since you got to see pictures of Ryan cave at the top, here is my cave picture nice and safe near the bottom of the trail!

** We wish we had kept track of how many times each of us fell while trying to get through the boulder grass. It was hilarious to watch the other person stumble and then disappear under the thick grasses**

On the western tip of Oahu is Kaena Point. This dramatic lava shoreline is said to be the place where souls of ancient Hawaiians would jump off into the spirit world and meet the souls of their ancestors. With scenic views of the Waianae coast to the south, Mokuleia to the north, and the vast Pacific, it’s easy to see why this point was deemed so sacred.  

After a final afternoon at Haleiwa Joe’s, we jumped in the car and headed out to this gorgeous point in search of some unique shells, an amazing sunset and some fun time together. As always, Kaena Point was gorgeous and we ended up with some great pictures to share:

Can you spot Ryan pretending to be a rabbit?

On to my new favorite place that I’ve named “Thinking Rock”:

There is so much exploring to do at Kaena Point!

You can even get barreled if you are lucky enough to be in the right spot:

Wipeouts happen to…

A place for lovers…

Yup, we’re in love

And we have our eyes set on hiking this baby one of these days…

The End.

One of Jonny’s many nicknames he’s earned while in Hawaii is “Skittles” — as in taste the rainbow!  He has a taste for exotic and foreign women, but sometimes he’s not the only one that benefits from his occasional flings.  Along with foreign women come foreign cultures.  Sometimes the gift is a funny story or a new word, but this time it was some amazing Brazilian reggae music.

I don’t care what your favorite kind of music is.   If you’re a frequent reader of our blog, you likely enjoy quality when you see it, even if it’s not entirely up your alley.

The band’s name is Natiruts (pronounced “nah-chee-hoots”) and the best way to hear them is on YouTube (Pandora hasn’t picked them up yet and iTunes only has their older studio albums — their live music is the best).  Enjoy!

Head over to aave.com and click on the “leaders” link, under the individual leader bio’s you should see my picture and a little profile….this means I’m official! I’m part of the AAVE family! I should find out this month where I will be headed specifically, as for now I know that I will be in Colorado starting June 2 for a Wilderness First Responder course. After my training I could be traveling anywhere from Alaska to Africa! I’m so excited to be starting this new adventure and can’t wait to find out where I’ll be going!!

Heather’s application for The Best Job in the World was finally processed.  Go watch it and make sure to give her a good rating!