Today Josh and I hiked to Manoa Falls. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes roundtrip. A pretty easy hike, but muddy and slippery on the rocks. It is a trail that is about .8 miles long and leads to a 150 ft waterfall. It’s completely different than what we hiked yesterday, as you don’t feel like you’re in Hawaii at all…it feels like a jungle!

There were chickens and roosters hanging out everywhere in the parking lot. This one was the prettiest.

The trees look like you’re in a jungle.

The trees were incredibly unique looking.

I thought the tree tops against the sky were really cool looking.

The trail mostly consisted of mud, tree roots and big rocks.

Peaks of the mountains through the trees.

The trail went through this hole in the tree.

The sign at the falls.

So pretty!

Standing in the bamboo forest.

Standing in the tree on the trail.

Cool shot of the mountains in the background at the start/finish of the trail.

Today Josh and I hiked the Mariner’s Ridge Trail to the top of the Koolau Mountains. It took us about an hour and a half roundtrip (including stopping for pictures) and had a pretty amazing view of the windward coast as the payoff at the end. The ocean is so incredibly blue, it still surprises me every time I see it. The entire hike is uphill and most of it was through a bunch of ironwood trees. Pictures describe it much better than I can below.

Start of the trail up.

Koko Head and the ocean.

Josh on the trail in the forrest of ironwood trees.

More of Koko Head and the ocean in the background.

Maunalua Bay on the way up the trail.

Panoramic of the windward coast from the top of Mariner’s Ridge.

Unbelievable blue water. Still no used to it!

At the top of Mariner’s Ridge.

The view from where we were sitting at the top looking straight down.

Earlier in the week I ran in the rain…today I hiked in the rain, strong wind and with a bunch of tourists. I hiked Diamond Head (Leahi..which means brow of the tuna in Hawaiian), which is a very popular tourist hike on the southeast side of the island (I strategically chose to hike this during the week so there would be less tourists). It was very different from a normal hike since it used to be a strategic military lookout in the early 1900s (no artillery was ever fired during a war). There are still tunnels, metal stairs and mounts for observation equipment in some of the places. I enjoyed this hike and the tunnels were pretty cool, but I can cross this off my list. There are a million other places to go hiking on the island with better views and less people!

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The first hike! After getting all of my ducks in a row per se (license, buying a car, unpacking, etc) I finally got to relax and enjoy Hawaii today. We went on a pretty easy two mile hike on the southeast corner of Oahu. The views were stunning and the ocean was unbelievably blue. Not a bad way to spend my first Saturday here.

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