It was Erin’s idea, she’s done it before
To scale Diamond Head of Hawaiin lore,
As our time on the island is slipping past.
Three out of Five were up for the task
But the others thought…..no, no, it’s too big an “ask”
So we rode to the park in the tropical air,
But what we didn’t see coming ….were all those stairs!!
Another beautiful day in paradise, and on Erin’s suggestion from previous visits, we headed up to Diamond Head, that famous dominant feature of the landscape from Waikiki Beach. Michael, Erin and me….off on a tropical climbing adventure.
Selfie on the Summit!
It’s only two or three miles away from Waikiki but we figured…..warm weather, uphill walk, time….why bust ourselves….so we caught a taxi to the entrance to the park to begin our trek.
This was not a novel idea. Oh no, there were people, many people everywhere. Some going up, and lots coming down… some doing it easily and some, questioning their own sanity about such an undertaking….and some….well there is a helicopter landing pad and I bet it has been used for medivacs more than once!
The track wound through the ancient dry base of the caldera switchbacking up the quite steep sides until it had to be stairs…no other way….stairs and a tunnel cut through the tuff……..and not really a generously proportioned tunnel. In the end the stairs weren’t so bad…a hundred or so maybe and the bottlenecks gave us a chance for a breather now and then.
But the view, well on such a gorgeous day it was really worth the climb. With viewing platforms located on top of the old military bunkers, we were treated to 360 degrees of scenery, of Waikiki, of the south shore of Oahu right out to Maui in the far distance. It was really quite speccy, and hence the popularity.
Almost at the top and the last stairs. Michael was waiting for us there.
Erin with cousin Becky…..in spirit.
The caldera from the air. The climb is from the buildings in the caldera to the rim at the far left of the shot. (Not my shot….google!)
The view. Quite magnificent!
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