Climbing Up Diamond Head

On Wednesday morning Mom, Dad, and I planned to climb up Diamondhead, a big famous volcanic crater on the east side of Waikiki. The hike/climb wasn't supposed to be too bad, but I was bitter because I had rescheduled my workout with Laura for early that morning. And then I'm supposed to climb up a mountain?? Just call me Sporty Spice. (For the record, for the brief moment I contemplated which Spice Girl I would want to be, I wanted to be Ginger...Anyone remember when she was Sexy Spice? Anyone?)

Mom and Dad picked me up in their giant, cherry red Cadillac (no, I'm not kidding) and we drove to Diamond Head. It was definitely smart to go when we did, because at 9am it wasn't terribly hot, but everything is so dry and open up there that it would have been if we had waited until the afternoon.



The hike up was surprisingly easy. It's pretty well terraced with little places to step of to the side if you need to rest and nothing is too steep.



Well, nothing except the evil staircase. Now, I don't think I'm alone when I say that stairs are unusually hard. I'm in way better shape than I was three months ago, and stairs can still kick my butt. The worst part of these stairs was the fact that they're not really wide enough for simultaneous up and down travel, so as you're trying to haul yourself up you have people at the top staring at you. Mostly they're nice and offer encouragement, but still - they're staring at you huffing and puffing. But, having those people there also forces you to actually get all the way up the stairs...



Then you get up there and realize there's a spiral staircase waiting for you. The problem with this one is that you can't see how far up it goes, so I took a little break and then ventured up. It was mercifully short. Once you're up those stairs, they expect you to shimmy your way through a bunker hole or something - I have no idea what you would call it. It's a hole that you have to find your way to fit through while fellow tourists wait their turn and watch you. Can you tell I'm still self-conscious about people witnessing my attempts at physical activity?



Unbelievable. The views from the top of Diamond Head are positively stunning. It's also remarkable for the fact that it allows you to see some of the many micro-climates just on Oahu. And then I stand there and think: I live here! I've been so lucky to live in places that are awe-inspiring (albeit it in very different ways.







Minor note: back at the bottom of the trail my dad noticed a sign indicating the "First Amendment Area" and asked me to explain it to him. He then proceeded to tell the confused tourists near us that I was a lawyer and would explain it to them. I still don't think they knew what was going on...Good times.