Somewhere between the new friends I made today and one of the most epic runs I have ever had the pleasure to be a part of, I ranked today amongst the top 3 of my favorite adventures.
After a nice run and a fun hike yesterday, I was all sorts of stoaked for the run today. Jon had been on a recent adventure with the Maui Endurance Adventure Team (MEAT) recently and asked me to join the gang today. We woke at a lovely 4:30am and crammed some supplies into our bags before hitting the road. This is the same area as our Turkey Trot, but we didn't run in the actual Crater for the trot like we did today.
We met up with Dylan at his place (a sweet little farm/ranch with a Pig, Goats, awesome dogs, and a horse? multiple horses?). We discussed how cold it would be up top while giving the goats a good scratching behind the horns. When Matt showed up we jumped in the ford and hit the winding road up to the crater. We made a pit-stop at the Visitor's Center and got a nice blast of an icey wind to let us know the conditions. Once at the top, we loaded the water bottles, cliffbars and pb&j into the bag and hit the trail!
From the very start I knew this was going to be amazing. As we cut across the side of the mountain the sun began to rise over the top, illuminating the clouds that lay below us. At around 8000ft we could feel the altitude but it didn't affect us. As we came to the switchbacks, I couldn't believe how beautiful the crater was in real life. Pictures just can't do it justice. It's vast and intimdating, challenging us to conquer its rocky terrain. Because what's an adventure without a little challenge?!
We talked non-stop the whole run about ultra-marathons and training techniques, life in general, and had some great laughs. When we got talking about feeling "alive" during expeditions like this Jon chimed in, "I haven't been this in touch with myself since I got in bed last night!" hahaha classic. Although he did say I looked like "a male Joan Benoit when she won her first marathon."
Bonus: I found a sweet bandanna which I tied to my backpack as a memento of this epically awesome day.
The terrain went from a tundra like area to feeling like we were running on Mars or the Moon. It was amazing! Lucky for me, Dylan is also a hiking guide and is full of fun facts about the flora and fauna of the area! Mom: I told him you would have loved to take his tour and would have the most questions about everything!
Dylan told us all about Pilo berries (the reddish berries in the photos) and that you make an offering of a berry to Pele before eating one yourself. They had a light flavor, most resembling a mixture between maybe a pomegranate seed and a cranberry? But a light and unique taste of it’s own. He also told us about Sandalwood and the trade how it was a big export for Hawaii at one point! So many fun facts!
Liz: we even got to see some Nene!! One of them came careening after Dylan just to prove he was tough but we all knew it was an act. They were surprisingly tame!
We kept a nice easy pace the whole way, knowing the terrain and the length of the trip would be taxing. And we never missed an opportunity to stop and take some photos. Along the way we passed people here and there who would cheer us on or make comments like "you're RUNNING this?!" ...never gets old.
Once we finally got back to the top we joked about how few beers it would take to get wonky faced. In total our adventure was over 4 hours of run/hiking for a nice 18.5 miles!! Booyah! Two long runs in 1 week!
We hopped back in the car and took the windy road back to Dylan's, all of us ecstatic about our run.After some thank you's and plans for the next adventure, Jon and I hit the road for Paiea. This happens to be where World Class Surfer, Laird Hamilton, lives so we kept our eyes peeled. We stopped at a little Organic Foods store and got some phenom-nomenal food. One of the treats I got was a "B-Happy Energy Milk" which had coconut milk, and bee-pollen, and everything that's tastey and good and healthy in this world. It had an odd texture but tasted pretty well!
On the road home we stopped on the side of the highway and jumped in the ocean. Of course. Now I think I'll take a nap and then go read on the beach!! Tough life. Enjoy the photos!
PS- let me know which photo of us running you like the most! I'm going to try and enter it in for photo of the month!
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