What a nice day for a hike. Kaena point is a long, dry flat hike right along the west coast of Oahu. It's on the drier side of the island, but when it rains, it gets very muddy. Luckily, this time was very nice; dry, cool and breezy. The last portion of the hike is through a preserved area that was set up last year to protect the nesting albatross & shearlings. Got some fun pictures of an adolescent albatross molting. It was the funniest bird I've ever seen. It was about the size of a basketball, all fluffed up with it's feathers flowing & blowing in the wind like a muppet bird. The pictures can't quite do it justice. It was FLUFFY, like make-the-girls-squeal-with-glee fluffy. We hiked out at 4 and got to the point about 30 minutes before sunset. The monk seals (endangered) love this spot and are usually sunbathing here during the day, but they were playful at sunset. There were at least 3 playing around (making babies?). The lighting was perfect, but you're not allowed to get too close to the seals since they're endangered. We hiked back after dark under the stars which were much brighter than in town. Mars, Venus & Saturn are all visible right now, so it was a great place for star gazing as long as you didn't look up & fall on your face tripping over the unpaved trail. Can't wait to go back!
