7th Day in Hawaii

We woke up extra early today because we were going to try a more difficult hike...

Koko Head

The photo above is a view from the summit and the one below is a view from the parking lot.   It doesn't look so tough from the parking lot but Koko Head was definitely a challenge... 

I think it was cool that you could practically see the entire hike from the trailhead... one large railroad track staircase consisting of 1,048 steps...

that goes straight up the mountain...

and up... and up... and up!!!  There is one section that was a little bit scary because the railroad track was actually elevated over a canyon.  If you were not careful, you could fall through... it was definitely scarier going down...

The girls did great although I had bribed them with Starbucks if they made it to the top so there was some incentive!  There were a couple hard sections where they were chanting, STARBUCKS, STARBUCKS, STARBUCKS... It was their motivation to get to the TOP...

So the picture above is a view from the final railroad track steps!!!  There was a little more climbing to get to some of the cool lookout spots.  The first lookout was an awesome location for action shots... 

Gorgeous Jump

Beautiful Ring Kick

And a Coach Mary Handstand!

The next location was flat-out breathtaking... minus the photobombing dude in the blue shirt who was playing on his phone... he wasn't even enjoying the view...

I finally asked him if he wouldn't mind moving so we could take some pictures without him in them...

And how about this awesome panorama...

P.S. The girls in the panorama were really sweet so I decided to not crop them out!!!

In this next picture, my toe is pointing to Hanauma Bay... a protected marine life conservation area that is a famous spot for snorkeling!!!

The view in the other direction was just as cool... there are a bunch of old cement bunkers at the top of Koko Head from when it was a military fort...

After taking a million summit handstand pictures, we decided a selfie was necessary to show off what we were about to descend...

The hike down was almost tougher than the hike up... we really had to be careful about our footing!!! The view on the way down was amazing though...

After burning a ton of calories, we decided to splurge on lunch in Haleiwa and visit "Dat Cajun Guy" who was featured on the The Food Network with Guy Fieri...

P.S. The fried pickles were yummy!!!

After enjoying our cajun lunch, we headed for Shark's Cove on the North Shore for some snorkeling... 

After crossing the rocks, you'll find small sections of wading pools filled with marine life... some pools deeper than others!  My favorite spot was the small entrance where the surf came in... if you jumped into that section then the current would carry you back to the wading pools... it was a like a water park ride...

The water and air temps were a little chillier than we would have liked but we still enjoyed seeing all of the fish...

Another great day in Hawaii...

~Day 7 Hawaii Handstands