HAWAII--DAY 1

Friday, January 13, 2012.
We woke up at 5 AM, which wasn't too much of a stretch for us since it was 8 AM in Utah. We took our flashlights and went on a hike up Diamond Head in the dark so that we could see the sunrise from the top. There were a lot of other people who had the same idea. We ended up going to a lookout point a little ways down the trail where there was noone but our family--beautiful views--great way to start the trip.

The trail to the summit was built in 1908 as a part of the U.S. Army Coastal Artillery defense system. It is a 0.8 mile climb one way up 560 feet. You go through a long tunnel on one part of the trail and with the humidity, it feels like you won't be able to breath. There are a lot of stairways, one of them with 99 steep steps. You can see the mounts where the observation equipment was. There are bunkers along the rim that Hayden found very interesting. We had a great time climbing around everything and looking at the beautiful view.