Author Archives: sandersnm

Whale Watching – Oahu’s North Shore

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Today we went whale watching on Oahu’s North Shore for Josh’s birthday. It was absolutely amazing. We went out on a catamaran with North Shore Catamaran Charters for about two and a half hours this afternoon. The water was pretty rough in the beginning and there were huge ocean swells, which put Josh in charge of taking pictures and me in charge of not getting seasick. The entire time we were out there, we were surrounded by whales on all sides. It was definitely an experience of a lifetime!

The humpback whales migrate down to Hawaii from Alaska to breed for the winter. A baby  humpback whale weighs between one and two tons when it is born and gains about 100 pounds a day for the first six months of it’s life. It goes through an amazing growth spurt during this time so it can gain strength and body size before the journey back to Alaska. An adult can weigh up to 40 tons and be 45 feet long, with the females being larger than the males. Another interesting fact is that their tails are like their fingerprints. Each one is unique to that whale. Some of the best shots from the day are below. Enjoy!

Whale breaching!
Double breach! There were two of them…super cool!
Back of the whale
Kaena Point – where we hiked last weekend!
Josh and I on the boat!
These two were about 20 yards from us for a few minutes just swimming along. Eventually they decided to deep dive and flashed us their tails.
First of the two deep diving.
Wind farm on the North Shore.
Large ocean swells. They were ridiculous!
Heading back to the harbor.

Aiea Loop Trail

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Today I hiked the Aiea Loop Trail which is located in the Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area. The park is located about 10 miles from where I live and took me about a half hour to get there (I didn’t even get lost!). The trail is about 4.8 miles long and took me about an hour and 50 minutes to complete at a pretty fast pace (including stopping for pictures and a few offshoot trails to see some pretty cool views).  It runs along the ridge of the west side of the Halawa Valley (not to be confused with the Halawa Valley on Molokai) and I was able to see Pearl Harbor in a few places at a distance. There were so many different types of trees ranging from Norfolk Island pine trees to native koa and ohi‘a trees. It was also an incredibly muddy hike in places and I ended up with mud on my legs past my knees…I also drove home in socks because my shoes were completely covered in mud. I passed a few different people along the trail, but for the most part it was pretty desolate…except for a wild boar (my first time seeing one). I was walking along and all of a sudden it grunted loudly to my right and went running through the woods…scared me to death! However, I tried to get a picture through the trees :).

I thought this was a pretty shot of the beginning of the trail.
So many tree roots everywhere.
One of my favorite pictures from the hike. Beautiful canopy of trees over the trail.
First of many trees on the trail. This was easy because someone had cut it down. The rest..not so much.
One of the offshoots I took went to this view of the valley.
So bright green in the middle of the woods.
I turned around and thought this was a pretty cool shot of the trail behind me.
Huge tree hole in the trail.
Looking down off the trail.
Tons of trees down on the trail. They were fun to climb over.
A bit of a rock hill that I had to climb up and then down.
Most likely my favorite picture from the hike. This the H3 going into the hills headed towards Kaneohe.
H3 below and Pearl Harbor in the distance.
A larger picture of the H3 and the tunnels.
In the upper/middle right is a black boar staring at me….
Tall palm trees along the way.
I loved this shot of the trees along the inside of the trail.
There were three cats at the end. This one was the only one that wasn’t afraid of me. I miss Nola.

Clouds

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There was a giant cloud outside our building this evening that was bright orange and yellow. It was quite ominous and very unique in appearance, as all of the other clouds around it were normal looking. And I decided to share :).

 

Punchbowl Cemetery

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Yesterday afternoon Josh and I walked to Punchbowl Cemetery or the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, which is about a mile and a half from our apartment. Punchbowl is a giant volcanic crater that now serves as a memorial and resting place for those men and women who have served in the US Armed Forces. Approximately 53,000 men and women who served our country during WWI, WW2, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, along with their significant others, have been buried or cremated here. It was incredibly peaceful and serene and you get a pretty cool view of the city as well. It was also a great reminder of those that have fought and died for our freedom. Thank you to so many individuals out there for serving our country past, present and future (including three of the most important men in my life…both of my wonderful grandfathers and Josh).

The view of the crater by our apartment.
Entrance to the Cemetery
I loved the trees. They were so different.
Thanks to our Molokai Flower Farm tour, Josh and I both knew that these were ginger flowers.
I forced Josh to take a picture with his Purdue shirt on…boiler up!

Kaena Point

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Yesterday Josh and I hiked to the westernmost tip on Oahu, Kaena Point, which has one of the last intact dune ecosystems on the Hawaiian Islands. You can reach the point via two ways, the North route or the South route. We hiked on the Mokule‘ia side, the North route to the point, which is about 2.7 miles one-way. The hike was pretty flat and the majority of our hike was along the beach (I ended up with a lot sand in my running shoes). It was a gorgeous day with tons of sun and very few clouds. The absolute best part was seeing whales all along the way, as well as when we got to the point. Kaena Point has been designated as a Nature Reserve to protect nesting Albatrosses, Hawaiian monk seals and natural vegetation. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see any monk seals, but saw plenty of Albatrosses flying around (they are HUGE). There were tons of tide pools along the way, and at the point, that contained fish, snails, crabs, etc. At the point, people were swimming in the tide pools (not something I would do with the fish), but Josh was definitely sad he didn’t bring a swimsuit.

Start of the hike.
Boats on the water…and whales somewhere out there.
The sun shining through the peaks.
The unique rocks.
Josh out on the rocks.
Carefully walking on the rocks…so as to not fall.
Snails up close on the rocks
Inlet on the shore.
Old, rusted gate leading to the point.
The very secure barrier to keep the sanctuary protected.
The point!
The dunes
More rocks on the point.
If you look closely, you can see the whale blowing water.
If you look closely, you can see the top of the whale sticking out of the water.
Cool picture of all the coral washed up.
Tide pool with fish and snails.
View from the rocks looking back a the dunes.
Rocks leading to the point.
Water rushing in to the tide pools.
A little crab (who was not interested in us).
More of the crabs and snails in the tide pool.
Pretty view of the dunes with the West Coast in the background.
Albatross sitting on her nest. HUGE!