Hike 3: Makapu'u Lighthouse - September 2, 2011

We have definitely been bit by the hiking bug. The Friday before Labor Day, Mark had the day off, thanks to the "Rope Yarn Days" that the Navy tends to give over the long weekends. Definitely a perk for him being an Air Force guy in a mainly Navy office on a Marine installation. Since the kids still had to go to school, we decided to go exploring. There are a lot of hiking spots and trails over in the Hawaii Kai area of the island (East Oahu). We mapped out the day: Makapu'u Lighthouse trail, Whole Foods for lunch and then a little bit of shopping if the day allowed. We headed down the highway and stopped at some of the scenic spots. There was a scenic area that was completely empty, so we pulled over and broke out the camera.



When we drove into the parking lot, we noticed quite a few cars parked there already. A lot of groups were starting there way down the trail, as the sun was blazing over head. The only bummer about hiking these trails during the day is that the sun is usually pretty toasty. There is often very little shade unless you do one of the loop trails or if you do a ridge trail. Thank goodness for the sunscreen. We started up the trail and noticed the view. That's Koko Head Crater in the background:


After much huffing and puffing in the sun, we made it to the top of the trail and there were a lot of interesting markers at the top:


What's funny about this trail is that the lighthouse isn't actually at the top of the trail. There's a side trail that you can take, but you can't actually reach the lighthouse. It is federal property and as such, the feds decided to close public access to it. The trail looks to be in slight disrepair leading to it and there is a locked gate with barbed wire fencing around it. I'm sure that there is a way around, but viewing it from a far was good enough for us:


This was a relatively easy trail. It is paved the entire way, which is great for families that have wee ones in strollers. It's not a very long trail either, so good for beginners for sure.