Walk in Time

I've been craving a good hike that would get us all out of the hale.  Let's face it, when the weather is nice and the temperatures are cool here in paradise and my waistband is stretched to the limit after my overindulgence in all the Christmas treats that I just had to enjoy during the past two months.  Clearly, it is time to lock the pantry, send the chocolate in to the office, and hike.

Gone are the days that LD could merrily sit from her backpack throne on by back.  She's way to heavy  for me to carry her on my back.  Although I'll miss her kicking my bottom and patting my face to tell me she's loving what we're doing, we have to figure something else out.  Also, we've added Cody to the mix and being kenneled while we hike...outside.. seems cruel.  He needs all the activity he can get so he doesn't look like sumo puppy.  So, looks like it's time to find trails that are

fun

beautiful

toddler friendly

and

dog friendly.

We drove up to the Pali Lookout and bypassed the hoards of tourists who were ogling at the views toward Kaneohe and the windward coast (I figured I could do that after we hiked).  Needless to say, I felt extremely daring as we walked around the opening of the road block.  I could feel the looks of those above mentioned pondering, "what in the world is that mom doing?  Doesn't she see the danger signs?  Look...she's taking her toddler and a dog with her!"  Yes.  That's right.  I'm a rebel.   I'm on a mission.  I'm hiking today and this one along an abandoned stretch of the remnants of what once once ye ole Pali Highway is just what we need.  Today.  It's also open to hikers.  I promise I'm not doing anything illegal.

We meandered down the Old Pali Highway and I have to say, we loved it...right away.  2011 faded and we were quickly on a walk into eras gone by.

In 1845 the first road was built over the Nuʻuanu Pali to connect Windward Oʻahu with Honolulu. I can only think that those who worked on this endeavor were
1.  Bullheaded 
2.  Brave

In 1898 this road was developed into a highway which during construction 800 skulls were found believed to be the remains of the warriors that fell to their deaths from the cliff above.   From this, I can only gleam
1.  I get spooked easily so each rustle could have been a ghost waiting to see if Cody and I were a threat
2.  Cody would lick anyone to death so why should I be concerned?

Mountains in paradise look foreboding to me.  As we walked,  the birds sang sweetly (although even with pinching a nerve in my neck to see them, the canopy made them invisible) as the traffic whizzed by on the new and "improved" Pali, opened in 1959.  Try as we did to imagine vehicles actually using the road we were walking along proved to be quite challenging as we meandered through ginger plants that literally choked the road, only leaving a very narrow path to walk.  If I thought I had white knuckles while HH drove the Hana Road on Maui, I'm sure I would have suffered a major heart attack if I had to experience driving up this road when it was in use and navigating the hairpins that were worse than a roller coater.

I know HH hears this every time we hike in paradise...but I can't help but write about my feelings of how nature is energized and unstoppable.  WOW. Leave the trees to themselves and the jungle comes out and riddles what man tries to build. We had evidence of that everywhere we looked. Banyan trees had insisted that they had the right-of-way and grew forth from the blasted rock wall barrier. The old water line and drainage system were filled with bright green moss and windows opened to the road below.

Probably one of my favorite moments on this hike was seeing something "roll" across the road.  Thankfully, LD chose to have a water break giving me the ideal time to investigate with HS.  Turns out, we were not alone on this hike...check out who almost got squashed under our feet.  Guess who tried to catch him and did manage to catch the mouse no bigger than my thumb?  Yes.  That would be my son. Rest assured his hands were doused in Antibacterial soap.  Thank God for small tubes of Bath and Body works.

LD is quite the trooper.  Lucky for her, HH kept track of how long we had walked and reminded HS and I as we sighed and drooped our shoulders as he announced it was time to turn back that the hike would be steep going back.  OK.  I guess that's why he's know to be my voice of reason.  He headed back up the trail and HS and I explored a little more...

It was a great hike and I'm glad that we chose to check this one out.   We found our walk back into time thrilling, scary, and downright mysterious if we let our minds wander. My only complaints: the traffic noise at times can be overbearing and the fact that tags are all over the old highway is aggravating because I wish that people could find something better to with their time than ruin nature and some of man's additions to an already beautiful world.