Hawaii

I haven't been completely inactive while in Hawaii.  Instead of running around NYC, I'm running up mountains and volcanic craters.
My first day on the island I hiked up Kokohead stairs: 1060 stairs up the side of a crater, when you get to the top it's an amazing view of the crater and Hanauma Bay.  

The next day I hiked to the first peak of Olo Mana, my favorite hike on the island.  
Then a scuba diving trip to the bottom of the ocean. 

I then went on a hike to Pu'u Manamana ridge with my friend Timber.  It was an epic hike.  I'm afraid words just don't do it justice, even this video does't really capture the experience.  It's hard to describe the feeling of standing on a small ledge on top of a ridge, over looking hawaii.  The sights, the smell, the nerves, everything combined into an experience that can only truly be understood first hand. 

After a few days of fun I had to get to work.  I was in Hawaii to help IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre produce their summer salon series La Madonna.   The show was a huge artist success.  So much hard work from the production team, volunteers and dancers.  
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I was able to find a little time off.  One evening I went to the World Fire Knife Competition at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

I also made a quick trip over to the big island and did a 7 mile round trip hike out to the lava field. 

After the show was over I had three days of freedom left, before I had to head back to NYC.  The first day I spent the day driving to the north shore, stopping at some of my favorite spots, like the macadamia nut farm, Pounders beach, Sharks Cove, and Waimea Bay.  The Second day I hiked all three peaks of Olo Mana.  This is the view from the 2nd peak of the 3rd peak.  It's all ropes and rock climbing from this point on.

My last day started at 3 am when I got up to go hike the  Haiku Stairs, AKA Stairway to heaven. This hike is a 3,900 step metal staircase, leading up the ridge to the top of the Ko'olau Mountain range. It was built for access to a satellite dish. It is now closed to the public, the only way to hike it, is to arrive before the security guard does, hence the 3 am start time. (This video was made when I hiked it last summer)

After a quick nap, I went and hiked Hanauma Bay Ridge and my favorite workout Kokohead stairs, that's now a total of 4,960 stairs for the day, if you are keeping track.  As my farewell to Hawaii I stopped by another favorite location, Spitting Cave to say good bye, soaked in the Kahala Hotel hot tub and then headed to the airport for a long night/day of traveling.