2002-04-26

Diamond Head

Today's activity is to hike up Diamond Head. You can't go to Honolulu without making this trek. The climb to the old military observation bunker at the peak takes about 45 minutes and it's 760 feet up hill all the way but the reward is all out of proportion to the effort. The views are spectacular and unforgettable.

My advice is to take a liter of water and a flashlight. Part of the climb goes through tunnels and stairs where it is pitch dark.

Diamond Head is relatively young; having been created by a single massive explosion just 150,000 years ago. It is inactive today but geologists say it could reawaken.

A close-up of Deb. Doesn't she have an expressive face?

View from part-way up the trail. The rim of the crater makes a perfect circle. The buildings you see in the lower left are part of a small military base in the crater itself.

Deb is in much better physical condition than me as I wheeze my way up the trails and steps. Frequent stops for photos make a good excuse to catch my breath.

One young couple got tired and turned back. We found them waiting for their friends, sitting in their car with the engine running and the air conditioner on.

Diamond Head lighthouse. It was built in 1899 and can be seen 17 miles away.

View of Honolulu from the peak.

We rented a Harley-Davidson Heritage Softtail to get around Oahu. I was not pleased with this bike. It uses the new Twin Cam 88B engine where the "B" stands for the counter-balancer which dampens the vibrations. It works entirely too well! The result is a Harley that has been effectively neutered of all character. Fun-factor was just one slight step above a Gold Wing.

I'm no fan of excessive vibration and I wouldn't be comfortable on a Sportster but I want some feedback from the engine and this one just doesn't do the job. The Dyna models with their "vibration isolation" engine mount (Harley's fancy phrase for a rubber-mounted engine) work much better. You get feedback at low rpms where they aren't objectionable and it smoothes out the faster you go.

This photo was taken in the Diamond Head crater.

Fireworks at night over the yacht harbor.

Deb at a candle-lit dinner.