For lunch we got Banan, her first Acai bowl so far, and I was super proud I remembered reusable bowls.
Later that day we went and got massages (we were late due to Lanikai construction backup) and then to MCBH. I showed her secret beach and we went to another submariner’s house for dinner (She has base housing on MCBH.) She has the cutest 3 month old, Maeve. Not pictured to protect privacy, per usual. It was nice meeting her.
I have been neglecting sunrise posts on here, sorry! You can always find them on my instagram account, @lanikai_Sunrise_96734, or visit this web page on this blog. This lady was trying to get her dog more comfortable in the water and was carrying him in only for him to swim straight back to shore.
I also found a new washed up creature. Squid Ink pasta anyone?
There was a lot of commotion around the pillbox, turns out 100s of army soldiers were dropped off and did an exercise up it. God bless them doing that in that heat with those packs on. Phew! I just missed the tail end of them, so I’m bummed I didn’t get better framing or pictures. But these turned out ok.
We live next to one of the most popular hikes in Oahu. In fact, we commonly encounter droves of people walking up our road to climb it. Imagine the sunrise view I get except ~1200 ft higher.
We haven’t gone on that hike… until today. I’ve still been having various health issues, but there’s a special occasion that pushed me to get this hike done (more on that in a later post).
The hike honestly wasn’t terrible. It has been really dry, so the biggest challenge is to not slip on loose soil.
There’s definitely some scrambling and it can get steep; but you have to slow down to scramble so you don’t really feel overly cardiovascularly challenged (except my poor lungs). I was more afraid about having to go back down and slipping. They do have ropes available at some (not all) dicey spots.
We of course couldn’t find our head lamps this morning *face palm* but managed to use our iPhones until enough first light was available. I am always practicing “composition”, and one really important component is leading lines. Leading lines are, if not already obvious, leading lines that direct your eye deeper into the photograph so it adds depth. I was trying to experiment with leading lines and the path. I did ok, but not like, WOW.
Here’s a photo dump.
Our condo is one of these.
Overall, will I do it on my own, I think probably no. Would I do it if friends were out here or groups were doing it? Probably yes.
I got pretty nervous because it started to sprinkle and get really windy, and I let fear win and didn’t get up on the actual pillbox and started to go back down and sat on a ledge for a bit. I didn’t even grab a picture of it… Brian got on it. I am a little disappointed in myself, but the next time we do it I’ll have a little more confidence and hopefully get on it. It’s right on the edge of the cliff… so don’t judge.
Those are our condos in the background of this next photo. I actually think the first scramble isn’t that bad, and when I got at the top of that I almost chickened out, but I couldn’t do that to Brian today. Maybe I’ll just get there and take pictures to mix up my beach sunrise walks. I think for now my doggo greets, sea glass hunts, and low pressure morning walk is perfect.
I brought my new lens with me for my sunrise walk, which zooms in really far, which is great but not for landscapes. I wanted to switch things up and I haven’t really had an opportunity to try it yet. It didn’t come out terrible, but I certainly can’t get the framing that I love.
However, I was able to zoom in to show you the amount of people you can expect at the top of the pillbox hike taking in this view. Apparently I need to work on my focus.
I will attempt the hike soon. I’ve had more trouble breathing the last few days than normal, I’m not sure why… but that’s kinda how it goes with this.