Exploring the Halekala Wilderness

My dad and my step-mom Lorrie came to visit for a few weeks. Since they've both been to Oahu a couple of times, I decided we should visit the lush island paradise that is Maui. It's a nice change from the crowded business of Honolulu. We sent them over a day early so they could do a bit of island exploring before the bigger adventure I had planned: Haleakala. Yes, I know anyone can go to the top of Haleakala. However, there's a wonderful and unique backpacking trip through the crater that was my real aim.

Technically the Haleakala crater isn't a crater because it's not bounded on all sides. It's an erosionary depression with new cinder cones growing up and up. I'm going to just call it a crater because it's easier. I found an article on this hike shortly after moving to Hawaii. The logistics were such that I put it off until Dad was looking for a little adventure. None of us had been backpacking in a while, and Lorrie was brand new to the sport. (Spoiler: she did great!) I stressed myself out reading everything I could find on the hike. It was actaully fairly hard to find info if you're not staying in the cabins. So, I included it here in case anyone other than my mom reads this post. (Hi Mom!)

Permits are required to camp and are given out at the visitor center on a first come first served basis. You can pick them up day before or day of your hike. They are free with your park entry fee or annual pass. There are a limit to the number they give out, but it's rare for them to sell out. There are three cabins with pretty much anything you could want for camping, but they book up fast and cost $75 per night. Each cabin is rented to one group only and can hold up to 12 people. We didn't stay in cabins, though. We stayed in tents. Camping is available near two of the cabins, Paliku (9.8 miles from the Sliding Sands trailhead) and Holua (3.9 miles from the Halemau'u trailhead).

Some people choose to do this hike the hard way and start at Holua. We chose the downhill route. This meant Mike dropped us off at the Sliding Sands trailhead with all of our packs. He drove the car down to the Halemau'u trailhead and hitchhiked back up. This was one of the logistical pieces I was worried about. Turns out, it was no big deal. In no time, Mike came cruising up in the back seat of a bright red convertible Mustang looking for all the world like he expected such a stylish ride. It was the first car that passed that picked him up. Since it's a dead end road to the top, I think people are more likely to give hikers a lift. You definitely want to do this at the beginning of the trip. No one will want to pick you up after three days of hiking and no baths.

As soon as Mike arrived, we set off along Sliding Sands trail down into the Mars-like landscape. The trail has panoramic high desert views the entire way to the base of the crater. The sand is finely crushed volcanic rock of varying colors based on age: black, gray, orange, and red. Beautiful little succulent-like plants called silverswords break up the landscape here and there. Silverswords are unique to Haleakala and only grow around 8000 feet in elevation. They're actually in the sunflower family. So, they're not succulents. I'm just full of useful trivia today.

The first cabin is Kapaloa. It sits in a grassy meadow under the rim of the mountain. It has water and an outhouse, which are both kind of nice to have after 5.6 miles of dusty walking. Remember, water needs to be filtered. The taps are outside of the cabins (another of the answers I struggled to find). We sat at the picnic table out front, had some snacks and watched a nene (Hawaii's endemic goose) and some chukar birds wandering around looking for crumbs. This was the first view of actual life inside the crater.

The next part of the trail was a field of dark gray a'a (rough lava formed by splatter rather than flow) that was starting to grow in with plants. The contrasting colors with the vivid blue sky made this a favorite section of the trail for me.

Eventually the landscape turned to grasses and actual trees as we neared the campsite. The Paliku cabin is at the base of one of the crater walls. The wall itself has trees growing all over it. It's pretty impressive. At this point we're above the clouds. We chose two campsites and set up our tents in the grasses. Everyone was pretty tired. We made simple dinners of pouched chicken and instant mashed potatoes with the jet boil. The minute the sun went down the temperature plummeted and we retreated to our sleeping bags for warmth. We woke later to a sky full of stars. There was some sort of haze in the air that made it almost look like static.

The next morning we woke up to frosted tents. We packed our stuff, topped off our water and walked the 6.5 miles to Holua Camp. The trail takes the opposite side of the a'a field and across the Ko'olau Gap. The a'a field on this side has far less flora. At the end of the field the earth turns to dark gray sand. Against the crater rim, big jagged rocks split the hillside looking for all the world like a laying down dinosaur with stegosaurus plates ,amiright? No? Like the big boulder is the head, and the tail trails off up the hill on the left side? Ok, fine. I'm an adult child, I get it.

Shortly after that section I took a step and nearly squished a big wolf spider. On closer inspection she was carrying tons of babies on her back. Way cool! The spider, with legs included, was about the length of my pointer finger. I'm super glad that wasn't in my house/bed/sleeping bag, but was cool to see along the trail.  We were back to the gray and red sands when we found this gorgeous painted section.

The trail took us through the Ko'olau Gap's dark sands with little bits of lava strewn here and there to a little side trail called the Silversword loop. It lived up to its name and was totally worth the extra .1 mile it added to the trip.

Walking into Holua camp was similar to the other side, but with more lava rock. The plants started coming up and the views were, of course, spectacular. The cabin came into view a short distance later. There's a little cave above the cabin big enough for an emergency holdout for a couple of people. The campground is actually not next to the cabin. It's up a hill further than you'd actually think to walk. Our site was surrounded by a little fairy ring of black a'a and backed by the giant wall of the crater. There's an outhouse up there and a stable for the horse tours that operate occasionally. We're still mostly above the clouds here, but the winds brought in airy clouds and mists that occasionally socked us in completely.

We arrived early enough to enjoy the area for a bit. Mike and I played with the drone for a bit. A few large groups of day hikers came and went. We set up camp, had an early dinner, talked over tea. The sunset didn't bring on the cold like the previous night. It was pleasant, but once the sun goes down, there's no real reason to be awake since campfires aren't allowed. Mike woke me up around 3 AM to check out a clear sky full of incredible stars. Whatever haze had blocked the view the previous night was gone. The stars were clear, bright, focused. We could see the Milkyway arcing across the horizon. Between the new moon and the low cloud cover, no light dulled our view. It's crazy to realize how much there is to see when you fully escape human influence. Being in the middle of the ocean has its advantages.

The following morning took us along a ton of switchbacks up Halemau'u trail back to the car. It was a beautiful and remarkably comfortable hike for its elevation gain. Every switchback brought fantastic views across the crater. The car was right where Mike left it, undisturbed. The trip went super smoothly.

We grabbed lunch (real food!) at Grandma's in Kuya. Then we checked out a nearby lavender farm, which was beautiful and fragrent. Finally, we took a dip in the ocean to clean some of the dirt off. It felt amazing!

Things to note: Hawaiian doesn't allow trekking poles as a carry-on. It also doesn't allow camp stoves or fuel. Mokulele, on the otherhand, let us take both. The ride is far more awesome too. Support the little guy! We picked up jetboil fuel at Maui Adventure Sports in Kahului. We flew in the night before and stayed the night. The other option is to fly in morning of the hike. There's plenty of time. The sun is super intense, so I strongly suggest hat, glasses, hood, long sleeves and sunscreen. Our lips were totally chapped for a few days after. Sunscreen them and use chapstick. Oh, and don't forget to charge your phone or camera. I took over 500 photos in three days.

Red Rock Country

Since Mike and I signed up for the Antelope Canyon Ultras 50 miler and 55k (more on that here), we (I) decided we should spend a few days doing a bit of exploring northern Arizona. We flew into Las Vegas to spend a day visiting family and eating delicious Mexican food. I have a huge weakness for tacos. Mom lent us her Mustang so we could cruise the desert in style.

The race was held in the stunningly scenic landscape of Page, AZ. The town itself is not super memorable, but the surrounding vistas are incredible in every direction. I booked us tours of the famous upper and lower Antelope Canyons. They are slot canyons which you really have to experience to fully appreciate. They're different, one being wider at the bottom and narrow at the top, the other being more V shaped. Upper Antelope was the canyon Mike ran through on the race. Since it wasn't part of my course, and would likely be very dark for his, we used the time to take a bazillion photos of the dynamic, flowing tunnel. It was way cool! The guide told us that in a flash flood, it only takes 6 minutes to completely fill with water. There's literally nowhere to go. YIKES! It was REALLY hard to sort through pictures of this trip to find my favorites.

After the tour, we tried to visit the Horseshoe Bend trail, but the parking lot is closed. So there's a shuttle on a 15 minute rotation... sounded like it would take too long. We drove up to a short loop called Hanging Gardens which is right by the Glen Canyon Dam. It was a fast walk through the desert to a cool formation that had enough shade to protect a wall of ferns from the brutal Arizona sun. Once again, it was absolutely gorgeous everywhere I looked.


From that little "hike" we drove to Lower Antelope Canyon. The canyons aren't actually attached. They're a few miles apart, but no one was clever enough to come up with two names. This second canyon was incredible. The light was on point; there were ladders to climb on. It was MUCH less crowded than the upper canyon. Our guide was like all of the Navajos I met down in Arizona: polite, shy and very nice. But, again, the pictures do more than words can.

I guess I really didn't talk about the weather, it was mid-50s with a polar wind that cut right through our clothes and laughed at our thin Hawaii blood. I was beyond nervous for the run the next day. Elevation, cold wind, dry air and thirty-four miles??! EEP! Luckily the wind settled to a nice off-and-on breeze by race day. I decided the race deserved to be its own post. So, let's just skip that day and talk about the rest of our AZ activities.

The morning after the race, I decided we had to explore a place called The New Wave before heading to the Grand Canyon. The Wave is a way cool sandstone formation that is next to impossible to get permits for. They only issue 15 per day. I put in for the lottery for three different days and was unsuccessful. The New Wave supposedly looks the same (I disagree), but is open access. Anyway, this place is a cool formation surrounded by the area's characteristic red sand. We did some wandering around, followed a path that loops the formation, and played with the drone for a few minutes. My knees were very stiff, but I was able to do some exploring. Mike seemed to be fine, but was definitely grumpy that I wanted him to move his legs. I'm an abusive wife like that.

We entered Grand Canyon National Park through the east entrance. We were heading to the hotel to meet Mom and Wayne, but decided a short detour for a peek at the canyon and a bathroom break were definitely in order. The canyon is almost unfathomable. It is so vast and impressive that my brain can't actually comprehend it. It appears to look flat, like a poster. I was immediately resentful that my knees weren't pulling their weight so that I could go hiking. They reminded me with mean little twinges that it was MY idea to force them to run through sand for nine hours. Touche, knees.

On the way out of the park to our hotel and rendezvous point, we had a five minute delay due to elk all over the road. Way cool! After a late lunch or early dinner, the four of us headed back into the park to do all of the east side lookouts. Each one has a different close view with changing colors of rock. It's absolutely awe-inspiring.

We woke before dawn to try to catch a sunrise at the Visitor Center. It was cloudy and not particularly spectacular, but enjoyable nonetheless. I mean, ignoring the fact that it was 30 degrees out and my toes wanted to fall off. No big deal. When did I turn into such a wimp? I'm a big fan of my tropical island lately.

Once everyone had warmed up, caffeineated, and had sandwiches for the road, we headed back to the park and jumped on the red shuttle to see all of the lookouts to the west. It was really beautiful. The skies cleared to that deep, rich blue that really pops against the reds, oranges, and tans of the desert. We stopped at almost every stop, but I was pretty glad when we were done. My knees were making sure I didn't forget abusing them two days past. My favorite stop was the Abyss, and I am still unsure if that's because of the name or the scenery. 50/50 shot there.

Aside from not having time or ability to hike, I really enjoyed visiting the Grand Canyon and now want to add three more items to my bucket list: backpacking to the bottom, doing a rafting trip down the Colorado, and visiting the North Rim.

Running the Antelope Canyon Ultras 55k

Remember back in June 2016 when I ran the Seattle Rock 'N Roll marathon and said I would probably never do another? Yeah, I lied. Let's go back to last summer. I was slaving away making dinner and Mike was lounging on the couch eating bon bons and scrolling through Facebook. He abruptly sat up exclaiming, "We should do this!! Watch this video!" Three minutes later we were on the Vacation Races website checking out the Antelope Canyon Ultras courses and distances. I told him, "You can run the 50 miler if you want to, but I only want to run the half, at most." Since I was occupied and the race hadn't actually opened for registration, we left it alone for a few weeks. During that time, I somehow lost my mind when I decided I didn't want to miss running through a slot canyon. I was still decidedly not at all interested in running 50 miles, much less the shorter 55k (34 miles) option. So, of course, Mike signed up for the 50 miler and I signed up for the 55k, thinking to myself that I could drop down to the half marathon option if I didn't feel ready when the time came.

October hit and I decided I should actually start running regularly. I did short to medium length runs up until January when we were finally back from traveling. I swear I was off island almost the entirety of October, November, and December. After that, I started working toward 30 mile weeks. I hate running when I have to run. I like to run when it's an adventure. Running a trail instead of hiking it is fantastic. Jogging through the lapping waves and deep sand at the beach is totally my jam. Running on a treadmill or plodding along down the road for hours... eff that. Anyway, no one gives a crap about the training. Let's talk about the race.

First, I did not drop to the half-marathon distance. I probably should have, but my pride said no, and my sense of adventure yelled HELL NO! So, here we went. We woke up at 4:30 AM to have Mike at the start line in time for a 5:45 take off. It was 38 degrees and pitch black out. We bundled up in our warm clothes and headed out. Dawn was just beginning to touch the mountains while we listened to a Navajo prayer and the fog horn set the 50 miler athletes running through the desert with headlamps bobbing. I cheered on the subsequent 100 miler runners on their start a few minutes later. My race started at 7:00. I needed to find a way to stay warm until then. As it turned out, the cedar and mud hut called a hocum behind the start line had a cheery fire in a 55 gallon drum with a chimney inside. It was nice and warm with benches. I hung out in there until 6:57 when I walked out the door to the start line ten feet away. Winning!

The race started in the opposite direction as the previous two groups as we weren't doing the actual Antelope Canyon run. Yes, yes, I know. How can it be the Antelope Canyon Ultras if I didn't run the canyon? I don't know. They could have called the event the Horseshoe Bend Ultras or the Lake Powell Ultras, but nope. They went with Antelope Canyon because those elite distance crazy people ran through it (in the dark). I'm not jealous anyway . Anyway, my clearly superior course went across the desert on a sandy road to the beautiful Glen Canyon. The trail, which was really just a bunch of strategically placed pink and disco silver ribbons, followed the rim of the canyon with incredible views of Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River for about five miles. We climbed up and up and up over the slick rock and sandstone. I had to stop a bunch of times, not because I was tired, but because the view was so amazing I felt like I would be missing something important by continuing. I guess at this point it is prudent to mention that the elevation in Page, AZ is 4000 to 4300 feet. I live at sea level. So, I definitely had a small disadvantage here. I spent the first two hours of the race running by myself, but any time there was somewhere amazing to stop and take pictures, I did, and others did. We all marveled at the views, commiserated about the sand, complained about whatever was hurting at the moment, or talked about life. After playing leapfrog with the same people for miles. I'd chat for a few minutes before one of us pulled ahead. I ran with an artist from Charleston and an east coaster on vacation with her family for 2.5 miles on a long stretch of sandy road through a field. I met two young female engineers (Whoop!) on another stretch.

After the beautiful river and canyon views, the trail cut back across the highway (all two lanes of it) and dropped into Waterholes Slot Canyon. This was probably my favorite part of the trip for the sheer adventure of it. The descent requires both hands and some rock scrambling. The canyon itself is beautiful, winding red sandstone formations. It was beautiful and I loved it. The pictures don't do it justice and neither can my descriptions.

Climbing back out, we ran for miles through loose sand and slick rock, back past the start line to the Page Rim Trail. This is a ten mile loop around the city of Page with panoramic views of Lake Powell. It's a nice hard, packed trail, which seemed like a real gift after 20 miles of loose sand. If you've never run in loose sand, lucky you. It is HARD work. By this time, my knees were hurting any time I went downhill. So, I won't pretend I ran this loop. I did, however, keep up with almost everyone I had been with since the beginning by alternating a slow jog with a power walk. I feel good about that.

On the rim trail when I was really hurting, I slowed to talk to a man I'd been passing back and forth with for an hour. We walked together for a half hour or so. He had sore feet, I had hurt knees. He told me about his fiance and their hiking adventures as well as his ultra marathon ambitions. He found me at the finish line and told me I'd really helped him get through the last few miles. I had thought the same. I left him at Mile 31 and did some jogging. By Mile 32 I was super done and ended up next to a man from Phoenix who had found running, lost over eighty pounds and was prepping for his second half-Ironman. His story was so feel-good that it kept me smiling for the last two miles.

As I ran through three to four inch deep sand toward the finish line, I couldn't help but grin. I was finishing something I never would have believed I could do. I was tired, but not completely spent. My knees were the limiting factor, not my endurance. I jogged across the finish line with a huge smile and shakas in the air as the announcer said, "Aloha, Kelsey from Hawaii! Welcome back!" What an emotional experience. There was never a point I thought I wouldn't finish the race. Each segment had its own feel. I felt exhilarated at the start; free and inspired on the mesa at Horseshoe Bend; adventurous through the slot canyon; sore and slightly resentful as I ran past my car; overwhelmed climbing the hill to the Rim Trail; resigned on the trail, but still in awe of the view; then relieved, grateful, and joyous at the finish. I ran THIRTY FOUR miles on an extremely challenging course. My finish time was 9:05:40, which was about an hour more than my optimistic guess.

This post is clearly all about me, me, me! But, I should probably mention Mike as well. If I have to... Mike's 50 miler was equally painful to my 55k. He had tweaked his knee at work the day we flew out of Hawaii. We were both worried about it holding up. By Mile 32, he had decided to drop out, but was told he would get a 55k finisher award if he went to the next aid station. So, he ran there. At that aid station, they told him just to run to the finish since it was less than two more miles. All said and told, he completed 37 miles on an even more challenging course than mine. That is 2.33 miles shy of a marathon and a half in a single day. He's still pissed that he didn't finish the 50, but it wasn't worth permanent injury. Whether he ran 50 miles or 37, I'm incredibly proud of him.

It's been just over a week and we're both doing pretty well. Mike ran a few fast miles by the end of the week and I went on two 30-mile bike rides. My right knee hurts going down stairs or walking too far. I also have some pretty awkward tan lines on my calves from my capris and around my neck. Otherwise, we came out of the experience with smiles, photos and fond memories.

Artsy Melbourne, Australia Part 4

Links to Parts One, Two and Three.

Melbourne in a word is vibrant. There's a huge art scene and every building is either designed with an artistic element or has amazing street art. It's trendy with excellent food found hidden in tiny restaurants down narrow alleyways.

We'd finally completed all the craziness and plans in the trip and had a few days just to chill in Melbourne. I found an AirBnb in the CBD and it was the perfect home base. We checked in and found dinner at a little Italian place with live music in an alleyway. Note on the alleys, the city made rent super cheap for shops and restaurants to open in the alleys between buildings. They've turned into places people want to be, while simultaneously avoiding the garbage and dangerous spaces people generally think of. Way cool.

The next morning Mike and I went for a running tour through the city, along the river and around the tan track that circles the botanical gardens. It was beautiful. Mike decided that he needed to finally cut off the crazy curly mop he was growing. So we found a little barber shop and twenty mins later, we were out the door and he was looking like his handsome self again.


That afternoon we went for a guided walking tour of Melbourne by the same company that did the one in Sydney. The guides are college kids who are Melbourne (in this case) natives and work for tips. It's pretty cool because they can make a few hundred dollars in three hours walking and talking. On this tour I learned that the Aboriginals were classified as fauna until 1967. Their children were taken from them to be raised by white people and assimilated into their culture. People are the worst. Anyway, we saw all the cool things.

The next day we hopped a bus for Healsville about an hour outside of Melbourne. The tour took us to the Healsville Sanctuary, a vineyard for wine and lunch, and a chocolate shop. The Healsville Sanctuary is a zoo of sorts. They rescue native animals and release the ones that can be back into the wild. The ones that remain are used for education. Way cool! It was a record day of 111 degress (Fahrenheit, I know this isn't the US which is somehow proud of being archaic) and HOT HOT HOT! Most of the animals were really lazy and any encounters were canceled for the day, but it did mean we had the place to ourselves and a guide, which was amazing! My favorites were the echidnas and the platypus. Mike loved the tree kangaroos.



We met the rest of the group (who spent all morning wine tasting and were happy happy folks) at Tokar Estates. The vineyard was beautiful. We had a tasting, but I really wasn't into their wine. Sad, I usually love reds. Lunch was very good, but slow. Last we stopped at a chocolate factory and shop. We tasted a whole bunch of their chocolate bars and bought ice cream, because we're obviously little pigs. By the time we made it back to Melbourne, a storm system had moved in and the temperature dropped to 73 degrees. In one hour. Totally nuts. By evening, it was in the low 60s.


I woke up feeling off, like way off. We were supposed to do a long run and I had a sore throat. We had an easy breakfast and tea while waiting for the rain to stop. Then we did some wandering around the city to check out some of the lanes and arcades (alleys). We found an awesome Japanese restaurant called Chocolate Buddha for lunch and had soup, veggies, a bit of meat. Clean food. Eventually I needed a nap so we could catch a boat later.

I found tickets for a burlesque show on a showboat out in the harbor. It was fabulous! They fed us appetizers until we were stuffed. Me with sushi, Mike with everything else. We also had champagne and some syrupy blue thing that looked pretty but lasted like pure sugar. The boat took us around the harbor and into the sunset with beautiful city views over the harbor. The show was fabulous, cheeky, sassy. I loved it!



On the way back a possum was hanging out of a tree and it was not remotely afraid of me, but it was ridiculously cute. Why are American possums so terrifying?

The last morning I was downright sick. Whatever nasty cold had been going around hit both of us really hard. We packed up our stuff and headed up to Fitzroy neighborhood to see the street art and find breakfast. Breakfast was at a bomb little hipster café. I found more GF avo toast. It was just my thing on that trip. Ok, always, but I think I ate it every day in both Sydney and Melbourne. We wandered through a pretty little park before catching the bus to the airport a little early so we could rest with our pockets full of tissues.

We boarded the plane and immediately went to sleep. A few hours later I woke up and started looking for entertainment. The map showed us soon landing in Melbourne from Sydney. Whaaaaaaat?! Then the pilot came on the intercom and informed us that we would be landing in Melbourne in 15 minutes. Basically we found out that the plane had a de-icing issue that the pilot wasn't comfortable with flying over the pacific for eight hours with. Um, totally understandable in my book. The plane wasn't fixable so they rescheduled our flight for the following morning at 10 am and put everyone in hotels for the night. By the time we went back through customs, caught the bus to the hotel and checked in, we were tanked. We got a wakeup call at 245 AM, not meant for us. So hopefully the other person didn't miss his flight. Finally we got up and used our food vouchers for the fantastic breakfast buffet at the hotel. A bus picked us up and took us back to the airport. The woman at the check in counter gave us an additional $50 in vouchers to use in the airport, so I stocked up on lunches and snacks for later and still had $10 to give to a stranger. She was thrilled! We ended up on a different plane and arrived safely at our house about 17 hours after we had planned. The sickness lingered for another week and a half.

On a high note, Australia was fabulous! Good food, nice people, beautiful cities, gorgeous reefs, what more could a girl ask for?