Based on the types of themes I’ve been writing about during this Hawaii trip, one would think that I had some sort of freakish death wish, or some kind of overwhelming need to do crazy stuff “just to say I did it.” Well, I suppose that’s partially true…not the death wish part, but there’s something so great about that adrenaline rush you get when you’re doing something so challenging, and a little stupid, and a little scary…something that not everyone does all the time….something thrilling. And I want you to know….some of the predicaments we’ve gotten ourselves into were not our fault…they weren’t planned…..others, well, most of the truly insane things we’ve done have sort of been my idea….but just for the record….I didn’t make the others follow my lead….they chose to follow my crazy path, so I guess that makes them just as nutso as me.

This last hike, the Kiluea Iki trail, was a bit too tame for my liking, so I decided to jazz it up by suggesting an off the beaten path climb up a nearby mountain with a great view into the volcanic crater we were hiking. It would just be a small detour and then we would catch the trail again and be on our merry way. (I definitely have Jason tendancies)

Later on the mountain- Jessica- “this is by far the dumbest thing we’ve done on this trip”

So, remember before how we hiked up that really big hill…not knowing that it was actually covered in briars?? Well, we were fooled again….you would have thought that we had learned our lesson…apparently not. Lets just say, it was a lot like hiking on shards of glass. The fear wasn’t so much that of falling off the mountain, but more falling into the pile of volcanic Aa Aa lava (more like ow ow lava) that was wicked sharp, and eroding away, causing small little landslides with every step. Oh, and the new rock was very unstable…lots of cracks and crevices to fall into….not a wise move Sarah. It was a very cool, and also kind of painful little adventure. The view from the top was amazing, and windy as anything. We tried to go down the other side and catch up to the trail, but learned that the other side was a sheer cliff drop off….I guess I didn’t notice that before we started….my bad. So we had to back track. Going down glass shard mountain wasn’t a picnic either. It was a welcomed relief to be back on the trail and hiking through the crater on flat, semi stable land. I felt glad to have done something that the other tourists had missed….I’m also glad that things worked out so well. I feel like maybe someone is watching out for me. Maybe I shouldn’t push my luck anymore :)

We celebrated our mountaineering success by putting on dresses and heading to a winery (the southern most winery in the US.) We got to do some free wine tasting with a portugease woman who was very friendly and fun to talk with. I surprisingly enjoyed every kind of wine we tried…what is it about Hawaii?? We ran into the same cute bike guy we saw in the parking lot of the trail head…..very ironic. He was also fun to talk to and he gladly took our picture. Another great day on the Big Island. Next we headed to South Point where our adventures continued.