Way back when we were youngsters, an amazing five years ago, we were married on a beach in Maui by Reverend Dennis DeRego. If you know us, it isn’t the first time…in fact, it was the fourth time Dennis married us, the last time being on his boat near (a little too near, as naked […]

The vast majority of the people who kayak the Wailua River are there to hike to the least-secret Secret Falls we know. Being ourselves, we couldn’t limit our activities to the things on the beaten path. We don’t know who put up the rope swing, but we’ll bet it wasn’t a tourist. Tourists just don’t […]

Barely a month after hiking the Haleakala Crater to Paliku Campsite, we were back in Maui to hike the remainder of the trail that goes from Paliku Campsite down to the Kaupo Ranch Trailhead. The remaining distance was less than 12 km (7 mi) but a whopping 1800 m (5800 ft) elevation change over that […]

The following is a continuation of Hiking the Halemau’u Trail to the Paliku Campsite at Haleakala National Park. One of the best parts of camping is sleeping when the sun sets and waking when it rises. We were awake a little after 5am with the pleasure of enormous slugs crawling on the tent’s screen. It […]

The Halemauu Trail to the Paliku Wilderness Campsite is not a two-day hike for the casual hiker. Fortunately, we’re no casual hikers and were well-prepared for the altitude, wet, cold and 32.8 km (20.4 miles) round trip. We paid our $10 to enter the park for three days, and made our way to the Haleakala National […]

You can have no doubt by now that we love the Hawaiian Islands. While they are just one of fifty states, they are in every other way almost nothing like the Mainland. The palm trees, warm breezes and gorgeous tropical flowers can be found elsewhere, but in no other American state can you find the […]

We have a habit of spending holidays doing very non-traditional things, taking advantage of inexpensive hotels and less-crowded places. Thanksgiving 2011 was no different as we took the long holiday in our favorite island destination, Kaua’i. Past adventures We’ve been here several times together and have found it one of the absolute best islands to […]

We had a great plan for our trip to Kaua’i at the end of August 2009, knowing that our true target, the Kalalau Trail, was closed for a goat hunt. We planned to drive to Kekaha, on the western (leeward and dry) side of the island to pick up a kayak from friends and paddle […]

Change of plans Most people go to Hawaii to relax on a beach, but that would be too easy for us.  Not enough adventure.  Even on our wedding day in May, 2009, we managed to squeeze in a hike on the island of Maui (after the ceremony).  Unfortunately, this trip was the second time we […]

Just because we were on an island paradise didn’t mean we wanted to sit still.  We look for adventure everywhere we go and locals are often a great source of inspiration.  Within hours of our arrival we’d met Jason and Fermin at the Royal Hawaiian.  When we explained that we love to hike, climb and […]