May 14, 2011
By Alison and Kacie
For our final hike of the project, we decided to do the beautiful Makapu'u Lighthouse. This hike was unusual in that it began and ended with a gorgeous view. The paved path itself gradually got higher, and literally wrapped around the mountain.
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View at the start. |
The view improved with each step we took leading us to many, very treacherous cliffs. It's best to keep a distance from the edge because, even if you think you know what you're doing, one wrong move could be very life-threatening. While these cliffs are beautiful, they are nothing to mess around with.
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Kacie (being careful) on a cliff |
This hike was quite short and not very strenuous. It only took us about an hour to complete the entire hike. The whole hike was a paved trail, (see below) unless you go off trail further on to one of the numerous cliffs to take pictures like we did.
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Cliffside paved trail |
We relaxed cliffside for a little bit (being careful not to go too close to the edge), and enjoyed the fresh air and the beautifully colored ocean.
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Relaxing in style! |
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The view at the very top was amazing. The ocean was peaceful and a beautiful aqua color. It also gave us a breath-taking view of rocky cliffsides and thin sandy beaches along the shoreline. We could see Makapu'u beach (famous for body boarding), Bellows beach, Manana Island, also known as Rabbit Island, and Kaohikaipu Island, also known as Turtle Island.
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Rabbit and Turtle Island |
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Makapu'u Lighthouse |
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Makapu'u Beach/ Tide Pools |
More about Makapu'u:
- Rabbit Island (Manana) was once home to rabbit farm (and also looks like a rabbit poking its head up from underwater). It is now an "important seabird breeding area."
- Makapu'u is 647 ft. above sea level
- Makapu'u means "bulging eye" in Hawaiian
- The lighthouse is a 46 ft. tall active United States Coast Guard lighthouse established in 1909.
Bibliography:
"Makapu'u." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 15 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makapuʻu>.
"Manana Island (Rabbit Island, O'ahu." HawaiiWeb.com, The Web of the Islands. Web. 15 May 2011. <http://www.hawaiiweb.com/html/rabbit_island.html>.
"Manana." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 15 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manana>.
