With the King's Trail as it's name

most hikers would conjure up visions of palm tree lined boulevards passing cool spring fed streams every now and then. Maybe a few mango, guava or papaya plants to provide sustenance. Wrong. This King must have ruled over the Moon.

It was a bleak, harsh landscape punctuated by jagged, black lava rocks. Don't fall here, you will be punctured. I should have known something was up when I spotted the two Crosses right from the start. ((What! No Star of David's.)

This was the scene of the last lava flow emitted from Haleakala. That's before it became a National Park. 

At one time, this rough trail really did circumnavigate the island of Maui. That was back in the 1600's. In the 1800's, the trail was rebuilt. Since then, the tourists and shoppers discovered Maui and the rest is history.

Mahalo,

The VOG is back with a wind shift today.

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man...

Ahoy Matey! 

With all the Humpback action going on off shore, I had to go in for a closer gander.

So with the aid of two Dramamine, I ventured into the Heart of the Ocean. Well, not exactly but it sounds more exciting that way. 

OK. I'll say it, the experience was almost, ALMOST as good as sex. Although, I've never medicated myself with Dramamine before performing the deed. 

For the cetaceans, it is all about mating. The males are sparring one another constantly. I suppose the ultimate winner gets the blubbery babe. Most of the heavy thumping occurs below the surface. When one Ultimate Full Contact fracas surfaced, we saw one stud-wannabe with fresh blood oozing from his tail. (No, I didn't dog paddle in and try to break the combatants apart). 

At one point, a crew member inserted a sonar device into the saltwater so we could hear the gangs taunts and threats.
Here are some of the snippets we picked up.

Male Whale One: "Dude! Your Mom wears Scuba Flippers!"

Male Whale Two: "Oh yeah! I saw your Mom make it with a guppy! She liked it too!"

You get the drift. Kind of like a late night bar scene without the beer flowing. 

I've attached the best shots. Enjoy them and light up a cigarette after.

Once again, I am so glad they escaped extinction.

Read all about it. 

http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2015/01/humpback-whales.html

PS. Just like Popeye, I do eat my spinach. 

No Olive Oyl sightings in Lahaina.

Good Night Mainland.

After two days of coughing like...

a West Virginian coal miner, I said screw this curtailment of activities. If I'm going to hack up a few capillaries, I might as well be engaged in doing something I enjoy doing like shopping-NOT. 

So I headed for the hills. Somehow I stumbled upon the Mahana Trail which is near the posh, hoity-toity hotels. In fact, the resorts maintain the trail. This morning, I saw a maintenance worker vacuuming the dirt surface. It was the best maintained trail I've been on in Hawaii. The hotels even provide shuttle service to the top so gravity does the work for their guests. For an extra few bucks, they can hire a Sherpa. 

Since I wasn't part of the "In Crowd" I ascended and descended the baker's dozen worth of miles. I didn't mind, it was beautiful, cool and quiet. The good news is I feel better than I've felt in the nine days since learning of VOG. 

http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2015/01/caught-up-in-vog-of.html

When I picked up an inhaler for my lungs, the friendly pharmacist said, "that's volcanic air pollution. It even has gaseous metals in it." 

No wonder I could hear "Clank!" when I stopped suddenly. 

With a nose like mine, I take in and expel a lot of air. Probably the same volume of what inflates the Goodyear Blimp. Yep! That's a lot of hot air coming and going from a little guy like me. I require clean air to run smoothly and efficiently. Don't we all?

Stay healthy and keep moving,

Jeff

PS. That's a Norfolk Island Pine I'm embracing. This specimen got a lot bigger than the ones I used to grow in flower pots.