TRUE BLUE HAWAII...off the beaten path on the Big Island

Travels always involve a path of one sort or another...our newest travel tale comes from the north shore of the Big Big Island of Hawaii. In Hawaii, you get the distinct joy of traveling beneath the surface to glide on underwater trails with the fishies and giant sea turtles...WOW, it's wonderful to feel so free and weightless!

Off the beaten path in Wiapio....on the north shore....

The path in this case is a road that leads 800 feet down a steep tropical canyon...it ends up in an ancient valley with waters and walls of epic and kingly proportions...it's the path down to Waipio Valley. Waipio and Waimanu Valleys are the growing up place of King Kamehameha....they are also the places destroyed by the 1946 Tsunami, and the place just down the road from the place we stay on the Big Island called "Cliff House". 

...the first time we walked down the 23% grade road to the Waipio valley in 2005, we found a sign that made me smile and put me in mind of Jimmy Buffet and his Coral Reefer Band...I think he'd love this sign!

The bottom of the valley is a place that "regular" old folks like us feel out of place...all you hear is the sound of the waves crashing...all you feel is the wind whipping the sweat off your skin...it feels like a place with secrets...most people who live down in the valley now are squatters, farmers who live off the land, dread locked kids and people who want to disappear. We hiked down to the bottom of the road through jungle, crossed the river, and walked over the black sand beach and up the "Z" trail to the top of the cliff where we met local man named Kliekay and his two dogs--one of which had been blinded by a wild pig, the other wore fresh wounds from another fight with a pig.

The super steep road down to the Waipio Valley

Crossing the river to get to the Z Trail Head at the bottom

 Once at the bottom of the road, you still have a long ways to trudge through muck and humidity and mosquitoes until you reach the enormous black sand beach. Once you cross the river, you get to walk across the sand that was once hot lava. 

A Death in the Valley

The waves are big and the currents here are treacherous. While on our trip this year, a 62 year old man went out for a swim at night and never returned. A helicopter, a huge airplane and boats swarmed over the area for three days. No body was recovered. 

A Path through the Valley

The walk up the Z trail takes a couple of hours with incredible views.

Off the Beaten Path...in a crater!

Even more other worldly than the path into the Wiapio Valley is the hike into the belly of a crater...the whole time you are walking in the Kilauea Iki crater, you can't help thinking you are walking right through the past during the creation of the earth. While we were there, a giant bench of earth broke off into the sea, sending up new fresh fire and steam a mile into the air. Dry lightening and/or a shooting star blasted right through the middle of the steam cloud. The rangers were beside themselves -- It was historic! The earth was still "in the making".

 From Wiapio and Honokaa, it is a 3 hour drive to get to the Volcanoes National Park so we stayed overnight in Hilo in order to spend 2 days in the Volcanoes area. There is a lodge with cute cabins and a restaurant right in the park. I almost wished we had stayed there...even a golf course there! 

The Kilauea Iki trail head is easy to find of the main park road.

Before you reach the lava, you walk through a rain forest...of course it used to be lava!

Life growing in the middle of black death is what this reminded me of...

It's a feeling like no other to walk over folded, crumpled lava with the earth giving up it's steamy breath all around

I learned lava comes in many colors, shapes and sizes too!

Our bed and breakfast lodging in Hilo had this wonderful pool and view of the ocean

 Walking through the Garden of Eden?

Another path we love on the Big Island wanders through the Hilo Botanical Gardens. At every turn, you feel wonder at the outrageous creativity in form, size and color of the planet earth. It makes you wonder about the original Garden in Eden. (The garden is found off the "4 mile scenic road" just north of Hilo -- open 7 days a week)

This flower is HUGE...see Dave's arm on the left for scale.

A final off the beaten path adventure lead to the Kapoho Tide Pools just south of Hilo...use the Big Island Revealed "Blue Book" to find your way here through a sleepy residential area. The snorkling is remarkable because of the presence of sulfur in the water...it has contributed to an underwater world of coral and critters that looks like the colorful glass ceiling in the Bellagio Hotel

A happy puppy"surfing"  at Kapoho

The sun sets on the West Shore of the Big Island

17 Days on the Benson Lake Loop

The "Benson Riviera"

the first 8 days....
No matter how much research and preparation goes into a backpack trip, the unexpected always happens. In part, this is why you backpack...to discover wonderous places you never expected to find. On the other hand, the unexpected can turn a trip upside down. Like this... 

September 2010, my husband Dave and I set off on a 50 mile backpack of the Benson Lake Loop in the Eastern Sierra only to get 3 miles in when Dave said, "You'll never believe what I've done." I stopped breathing for a minute and then asked "What?"  "Forgot my orthotics." Well, I think to myself, he has insoles. Somewhere. But then he said, "No insoles either."

Dave after he discovered he forgot his insoles at a lake on the way to Peeler

I couldn't believe it...He would be hiking on flat feet and hammer toes, with 55 lbs on his back looking at  2,500 feet elevation gain on the first day of an 8 day-50 mile trip with no insoles, no orthotics and a repeat of the last time he hiked with no orthotics...foot destruction. 

During the entire year I had been planning our Benson Lake trip, I never expected, never dreamed this would happen. No insoles. End of trip I thought. Well, not exactly. We changed our plan...instead of doing the entire loop we decided to do just half of it with extended layover days to reduce the likelihood of injury. It worked! We were able to complete an out-and-back trip on the western half of the famed Benson Lake Loop leaving the eastern half until 2011. 

Kerrick Canyon...hiking is downhill and fast through this flat terrain on the way to Benson.

Trip Summary
(I used "Sierra North" by Kathy Morey and Mike White to help plan my trip...highly recommended.)

Days #1 & 2-- Destination Peeler Lake, 8 miles from the trailhead with 2500 feet elevation gain. This trip starts from the Twin Lakes Trailhead near Bridgeport CA and Hwy 395. The hike is stiff, beautiful and you'll be bushed after you make the last 500 feet to the far side of Peeler. The lake has good but few campsites all congregated in the same area. No campfires although a huge fire pit is used by renegade hikers. Some people make the 11 miles to Benson from Peeler in one day, but this is a long haul through Kerrick Canyon...we saw a guy with the biggest bloody blister on his heel which didn't look worth the 11 miles to me...we laid over here to keep Dave's feet healthy and did a short day 3 to Arndt Lake...

Night 1 on the Benson Lake Loop takes you to the
the still waters of Peeler Lake, 8 miles and 2,500 feet in elevation gain
from the Twin Lakes trailhead

Fly fishing at Peeler Lake...you can see the fish but we had no success

layover day at Peeler

Day #3: Destination Arndt Lake, 5.6 miles from Peeler. This day's hike is far easier than Day 1 as you virtually stroll through Kerrick Canyon on pretty flat, easy terrain. To camp, we went a little cross country and stayed at Arndt Lake 4.5 miles before Benson, but there is really only one campsite and it is just as easy to forego the cross country to Arndt and set up camp in the flat, accessible canyon. 

Unremarkable Arndt Lake...I'd take a pass.

Fall colors of Kerirck Canyon on the way to Benson Lake

Days #4 & 5...4.5 miles and a big dive into Benson which sits at 7,600 feet (down from Peeler's 9,500 feet). You know you are almost there when you cross a swampy area with a shallow stream and soon set your eyes on the prize--Benson Lake, HUGE and warm. Set in a bowl. Swimming is a must. My first look at this lake made me want to stay a week. Fishing is fantastic. The kids next to us caught 20 fish and shared 4 with us.Campsites are obvious and sparse. Not much privacy really. We stayed at the far end of the lake where there were the fewest people. One really nice thing--fires permitted. Our layover day here helped give Dave's feet much needed rest. Peaceful. Warm. Perfect.

We camped at the left side of this picture...the swampy entrance is to the right of this pic

We never expected to run into backpackers
from Livermore and Pleasanton, our hometown! They shared their catch of trout with us.
One of their friends had the monster blister from the 11 mile hike from Peelr.

Days #6, 7, 8: Hiked back the way we came except we skipped Arndt and just found a nice sheltered, sandy spot in Kerrick Canyon. On the way out we pondered the idea of staying near a beautiful little creek (see photo below) which sits at the beginning of Kerrick Canyon..fish visible...shallow water...maybe someday.

You'll see this enticing stream just after a fence and a big rock on the way to Benson..

Benson Lake Take 2...

September 2011--The plan this year was to be out 8 nights and 9 days to do last year's "undone half" of the Benson Lake Loop...It would take us from Twin Lakes eastward to Crown Lake instead of Peeler, then to Upper Piute Creek, to Matterhorn Canyon, to beautiful Smedberg Lake and back. We would be humping our much too heavy (60 and 44 lb) backpacks over three mighty passes-- Mule (10,470 feet), Burro (10,650 feet), and Benson (10,140 feet). I was especially looking forward to fly-fishing at Smedberg Lake, working up a sweat and washing it off with cold, high country water, and gazing at brilliant star light. Back at the trail head, we planned to restock and then head out for a second 4 day trip to East Lake for more fly fishing. I couldn't wait!

The next 9 days on the BLL
Day #1...This year, Our day 1 destination was Crown Lake not Peeler. It turned out to be far more beautiful than expected. (8 miles in, 2,500 feet elevation gain, but not a tough hike)

Crown Lake, 8 miles from Twin Lakes trailhead

Well, the unexpected happened AGAIN on our second visit to Benson...except for the beautiful clear night at Crown Lake, we were hit with torrential rain, sleet, thunder, lightening and wind 7 days in a row. After making the first pass, we decided to do the WHOLE loop to avoid repeating the snow covered passes.

Quick Trip Summary...

Twin lakes to Crown Lake to Upper Piute Creek to Matterhorn Canyon, to Smedberg, to Benson to Kerrick Canyon to Peeler to Twin Lakes with as many lay over days as your bear cannister can afford. 

Looking back, this has now become our favorite trip although at the time it seemed so stressful to have to set up camp each day in a mad dash just before it started pelting rain. We would wake up to clear skies each morning, but by 1 pm each day the sky turned dark, and the rains came. Then we were stuck in the tent the rest of the day and night. We wore a whole in the floor of the tent!

Dave and I spent a lot of time in the tent looking at our elevation changes and next day's route

My greatest prayers were to avoid being wooshed away by the rising Rancheria creek and to be able to cook a hot meal. We ate alot of "dry" meals inside the tent which required no water or outdoor cooking...tuna packs, mayo, buns, cheese, cookies. But the drama made it unforgettable and it felt like quite an accomplishment...oh yeah, and after going over the first 11,000 foot pass covered in snow...we decided to do the entire loop instead of back track over the passes again. It took us 6 hours to go 3.5 miles over the first pass.

Day #2- up and over Mule Pass

The Sierra snow pack in 2011 was 170% of normal so the snow in the passes lasted far into September. I wouldn't have been so anxious if I hadn't learned that a Ranger had just discovered the body of a hiker who had disappeared 7 years ago...he was the husband of a woman we knew from Livermore. They think he slipped on the snow and fell to his death with all his equipment. Pretty scary for us as novice ice hikers to be in the same place with the same opportunity to fall.

You see the Sawtooth Range behind Dave...the views are truly spectacular. The snow was mostly chunky and easy to slam your toes into as a way to anchor yourself...we didn't have crampons. We used our trekking poles to determine how deep the snow was...didn't want to crash through it.

We met these two hikers as we were coming into the snow...they just wore tennis shoes and gaiters and seemed to have no fear. I guess they had done the snow thing many times before.

 We were able to fly fish at Smedberg Lake on day 3...I had my first High Sierra fish on the line after just a few casts. This is a beautiful, fish filled lake but there are only a few campsites --we had the lake to ourselves. It started raining in the afternoon and misted long into the evening letting up just long enough to start a fire and cook our fish.

When we hit Benson for the second year in a row, it was sunny, then within a few minutes, the sky turned black and it began to pour. We had rolling thunder that lasted for minutes at a time. Deafening thunder. Quite spectacular. 

We trenched but eventually the water came pretty close to the tent door. I know it doesn't look like much in the photo, but it rained for 5 hours so we were concerned!

About 7 pm, the rain stopped for a beautiful sunset at Benson Lake. 

Our trip gave us day after day of threatening skies...

but it was exhilarating  to be right in the center of mother nature doing her thing...

Our kitchen in Kerrick Canyon next to Rancheria Creek...we lost our water pump here and I thought I was going to be wooshed away by the rising creek.

This is Peeler Lake at night 8...we got into camp, trenched and prepared for heavy rain, but it was more like sprinkles and wind. 

Our Campsite at Peeler  on the last night...room for about 10 campers here

The next day we headed back to Twin Lakes passing Barney Lake and lots of aspen. September really is a great time to do this loop...few people, dramatic landscape, unpredictable weather--the stuff that brings you back again and again.

Aspen colors on the way back to Twin Lakes Trail Head

Almond Blossoms...Like A Kiss

Remembering Ditto Roberts April 1992-February 27, 2013

The sweet sweet fragrance of pink and white almond blossoms seemed to first brush up against my skin and then traveled past my lungs and deep into my heart as I ran yesterday.  I breathed deep and deeper to bring the fragrance in. It is my favorite smell of spring-- gentle and pure and immediately recognizable.

Earlier that morning, I had been given the name of a veterinarian who would come to the house to help Ditto on her way. She could no longer walk or hold herself up. It was time. The vet agreed to come to the house at 3:30 pm. I was running to keep my mind off the inevitable, not for exercise. But the blossoms ablaze around the lake made me so glad I had taken to the path again. February is almond blossom time.

When I got home, there she was, my Ditto, sitting in her recliner. "How ya doin' girl?" I bent down close to her...to gather in the fragrance like none other...her beautiful white fur. It was my favorite thing to do...rub my nose in her fur and drink in the sweet sweet smell that was her...me snuggled into the top of her head, kissing her head, smelling her smell.

During the last week of Ditto's time with us, it seemed I had done this hourly...so I would not forget...so that her smell would be implanted in my brain, my heart, my soul. For all time.

We buried Ditto in the back yard on February 27th 2013. Dave wrote on the box before we laid her in the ground. "Thank you Lord Jesus. We love you Ditto." I picked a daffodil from the yard and placed it on top of the box. We held hands, said a prayer and cried.

Ditto never caused us one single problem, she was stoic and capable

That night as I lay on the couch in the room with her now empty recliner, thinking of how lonely our home would be and yet how grateful I was for 21 years of her life with us, I remembered the almond blossoms today--God had given me a final gift of remembrance...Now, each spring when my senses meet up with the sweet pure fragrance of almond blossoms in the air, I will be kissing Ditto's head again, smelling the sweet pure fragrance of her fur, the scent which traveled deep into my heart.

If you have time, take a look at my earlier post about the bigger story--how Ditto came to be ours...it's in Februray Posts and is called, "Travels with Ditto". Thanks for listening.

Travels with Ditto

Christmas 2012- Ditto and her Koalas, Snowman and heating pad

Well, I think I have the cat of all cats. Her name is Ditto (for the  two grey streaks that looked like "ditto marks" on her forehead when she was little..look you can see them below). 

Here is Ditto with our Bulldog Buddy in 1992

Ditto's first photo with her Koala Bear Buddy, 1992

She is 21 years old now. The story of how she came to us is well, unbelievable to many but to me, quite simply an answer to prayer. More on that later. Today, at 21, Ditto is showing her age. Like won't we all at 101 years old? Sleeping most of the day. Loving to be loved and petted and held closely. Bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning when we greet her lazing upon her heating padded  recliner...yes she has her own recliner surrounded by the 3 Koala Bears that my Ozzie students gave me back in 1976...she loves her buds and seldom sleeps without them.

Last week she developed this crazy way of walking...her back right leg just hangs there and she trails it along like a second tail. She doesn't seem to be in pain, sooooo...we let her walk and sometimes pick her up and carry her to the next locale cuz...hey, we can help. The vet thinks it's neurological but he also thinks she is too old to address the strange gait. So it remains.

Ditto loving the sunny front window

Ditto is an amazing cat and a perfectly perfect friend for us-- childless but happy baby boomers. Brought to us as an abandoned kitten, she has never really enjoyed being cuddled or held. She doesn't head butt you or rub up against your leg like "typical cats". She has her own style of "loving stuff"-- on her own terms. Example: She makes a threefold turn circling Dave's chair each morning, then jumps into his lap to be brushed and petted for the next 1/2 hour while he reads. This is her "dote on me time" and she insists upon it. Even today, when her back leg seems to have been stolen away from her by time and just hangs there, unhelpful in the walking process, she still limps along circling the chair. Why? To get her loving of course. Her habitual happy behaviors show us one clear thing...she is not ready to say goodbye yet.

Christmas with Ditto about 1994

Ditto has been deaf since birth. She doesn't know or care that she is deaf. It is her life. She is especially sensitive to light and used to chase a scooting flashlight beam all over the place for fun. She would sit at the telephone and when the red "message" button flashed, she pressed it to play the messages--over and over. A deaf cat playing phone messages...pretty funny huh? She has even learned a little "sign language". She has adjusted perfectly. Being so VERY white, She is very unphotogenic! So I have to take photos of her against strong contrasting subject matter...doesn't she look pretty here?

How Ditto came to be a member of our family...

Ditto is the answer to a fervent prayer on my part. The prayer was the result of a cascade of kitty losses that started like this...

Ricky with me outside our home..I was on the way to my first triathlon

Our first cat was a Siamese male (above) who showed up on our fence the day of the 1979 7.6 earthquake in the Bay Area...he seemed lost and needed a home. We took him in and named him Ricky (for the Richter scale). Ricky was just plain sweet and easy. As he aged, he became deaf but still loved to be outdoors. One day he was lolling in the sun in the driveway, half in and half out of the garage. Unaware of her location, Dave closed the automatic garage door on her. He had no idea what he had done. Of course, she couldn't hear the door closing.

I came home from a run to find her there with the garage door on top of her. I screamed and screamed for help to get the garage door open until the neighbor came over from across the street. Ricky was of course lost to us. So traumatic was this death that I remember running down Bernal Avenue calling out her name, tears streaming down my face..."Ricky...Ricky...!". I truly believed like Lazarus, he could come back to me out of the grave we had placed him in, between two large trees on Foothill Road. Devastated. I was simply devastated. We had killed our own cat. I know it was an accident, but I cried for weeks.

Then Came A Cat Named Rosey

I wanted another kitty to love so I went to the shelter and brought home a big fuzzy Persian cat we called "Rosey'. She was so shy that she hid for 4 days. About the time I was getting attached to caring for her and the day she decided not to be afraid of us anymore, I noticed a black kind of mark on her nose. I took her to the vet and they said she had Leukemia. Always fatal. I couldn't bear to watch another cat die so I returned her. Again devastated at yet another loss of hopes and plans for a cat in our lives.

Another Chance For A New Kitty?

That New Year's Eve, Dave and I were taking a late night walk down our street when a frolicking orange and white kitty started to follow us. It dodged in and out of cars and our feet. I thought,,,Maybe this will be our new kitty! Just then, it ran into the street and was hit by a car. The cat careened back toward us and into a garage door. We ran to it but it was moaning and died in front of us. We cried all the way home. I stopped wanting a cat for a long time after this. I just waited, thinking our bad luck would break on its own. I had determined that I would not go out and seek any more cats on my own. I promised myself..."The only way I'm taking a cat is if it comes right to my front door." Then I'll know it is meant for me.

How About A Purr?

A couple catless years passed. Then one day I was running down Second Street when a pudgy cat came right up to me and rolled over on its back, showing it's belly and begging for a hug. It was purring so loud I had to stop and obliged with attention. As I rubbed and petted this unknown soul, I asked, "God is it too much to ask for a purr?" I was reminding God I still wanted a kitty with much purring attached.

Ditto was tiny when she arrived at our front door

Two nights or two weeks later, I can't remember, we got a knock at the door during dinner. Here stood our neighbor and a little boy named Gary with a pillow. They were offering out this pillow upon which sat a tiny white kitten. "Do you know anything about this little kitty?" our neighbor asked. I got a huge smile on my face and answered, "Yes I do. It's MY kitty." We welcomed Ditto into our home that day absolutely assured she was THE ONE. I had also vowed that I would have ONLY an indoor cat. When we discovered she was deaf, it was clear that she MUST live as an indoor cat. All prayers answered. The funny thing? Ditto has the tiniest little purr you've even not heard. You have to touch her throat to FEEL the purr happening. So, in some ways I guess it was too much to ask for a purr, but not too much to ask God to bring a kitty right to my door. I just had to wait until she could be made for me, lost in the park and then found....my kitty.

I have been overwhelmed with gratitude each and every day of Dittos incredibly healthy long life. And now that she is slowing way down, it is the easiest thing in the world to care for her and make any accommodation she might possibly need to live out the rest of her days. 

Ditto has been my gift from heaven. 

I cherish her as a token of God's affection for me...as a very definite answer to a prayer that healed my broken heart and gave me someone to dote over.