Makapu'u Mud Slog

PC160016  Soooo...I billed this hike as an escape from the muddy mountains. Let's go somewhere makai, says I, to hopefully find a trail that's dry! Gramma and Sam are doing a little sword-fighting to pass the time while we gear up. (Trekking poles for swords.) PC160019  Off we went through tall grass to the tide pools below Pele's Chair. Tried not to think about our dear friends the centipedes as we bushwhacked through grass and mud. PC160020  Hmmm... getting a bit muddy! I was thinking, what a great shoe choice, these hikers are not falling off like the crocs we sometimes choose! I would learn soon that even these shoes were no match for the mud! PC160022  Slipper inside and out!
PC160023  Almost there! We're laughing all the way :) PC160025  Kathy and Anneliese are troopers! PC160028  Finally at the tide pools - cool grey sand and sedimentary layers evident in the rock. PC160029  There's Pele's Chair above us.
PC160030  The view around the base of Makapu'u Point. PC160031  See the shoe floating? Mom is cleaning the other one :) PC160032  Time for a swim! PC160033
PC160034 PC160036  Sam is really into building rock walls now. He worked for about half an hour to build one just where Anneliese is standing (orange shorts). PC160038  All the kids working hard now, just before we hit the trail back out. PC160039  See that plastic bag Kathy has? It will come in handy later...
PC160026 PC160027 PC160040  The rock wall! Good masonry! PC160041  We checked out a Jeep trail on the way out to see if it was any better. Parts were - the dry crackly parts - but the rest of it was very deep mud! Note to self - the upper trail was better despite getting less sun on the actual trail. I guess all that water drained down and collected and there was no grass to "suck" it up.
PC160042  Ahhh...many discussions about "taking the higher road" but alas, the kids lost their shoes anyway! We moms tried to be good and laugh through it all, despite having just cleaned them up entirely. PC160043  Whoa!!! La Brea Tar Pits! PC160044  This shoe weighed a TON! We decided to go barefoot at this point! PC160046  Mom wrestled the other one out of the ground!
PC160048  Look at Sam's face! PC160050  And his backside! PC160053  I asked Anneliese if she wanted to hold hands today, as is their sweet custom on many trails, and she declined, strangely. ha! PC160055  Mom is always up for a crazy adventure! Now I know where I get it from :)
PC160056  Kathy is a real trooper. And you know why? Check out the next slide... PC160057  We both get RARE pedicures. Like annually. This is a FRESH pedicure from about a week ago! That mud will leave a nice line around her entire nail bed!! I know this from experience. I don't know why I had muddy toes a month ago, but I did. Ohhh...now I remember - the Jackass Ginger Pool expedition! Love ya, friend! Thanks for sticking with me (ha!) on dry trails and wet :) And that plastic bag? Went over the driving foot for the trip home :) People were looking at us a little funny at the parking lot thinking "we did read this is a PAVED road, right?"