Hiking at Hawaii Loa

Hiking is becoming a tradition here at Chi Alpha. Last year we went to Tantalus. That was nice, but it was more like a walk in the park than a real hike. Some of us cried out for more. In response Gaby, our resourceful hikemaster, brought us to Hawaii Loa Ridge. She said it was more difficult, but was still considered "easy" as hikes go. Little did we know that it she was measuring it against a very graduated scale.

Rising early on a Saturday morning we drove down to the spot. With water in hand we were excited and ready to tackle the slopes.

It was a grueling uphill trek, but the view, an awesome show of God's beauty, took away what little breath we had. At the top we stopped for lunch and rest. You can't see the background much in this picture, but believe me, it was fantastic. At an elevation of 2000 feet we posed for a snapshot.

Finally we returned to the bottom of the slope, exhausted and worn out. After five miles and five hours, it was time to go home. No one contested this decision. As we were going out Gaby proclaimed "Next time I'll take you guys on an even harder hike." The rest of us answered with groans.