Pu'u Wa'a Wa'a Hike

Pu'u Wa'a Wa'a (aka Cupcake Mountain) - not my image

Today my older brother Jon invited our family to join his on a hike up on Pu'u Wa'a Wa'a. Because I've only been on Pu'u Wa'a Wa'a one other time in my life, I thought it would be nice to see it again in a more relaxing setting. As I'd mentioned years ago here, my family has always called Pu'u Wa'a Wa'a 'Cupcake Mountain' because of the deep ridges on its sides that make it look like an upside down cupcake. Pu'u Wa'a Wa'a is actually a giant cinder cone that is part of the now-extinct (we hope) Hualalai volcano...which is the volcano that our home and most of Kona is nestled on the slopes of .

The area is high up in elevation (4,000 or so at the top), and about 1800 at the bottom...so though sunny and warm, there are always cool breezes that make it pleasant. We saw tons of sheep and cattle everywhere, pretty much guaranteeing that one will step on animal scat at least 99.999% of the time. I'm not sure what was more fun- that or finding all the animal carcasses/bones we kept running into. Circle of life, circle of life...Hakuna Matata.

On my way back down (I walked ahead of the group once they stopped for lunch) I walked with about 8 sheep ba-ba-baaa'ing and doing their best to stay 20 yards ahead of me for about 10 minutes. I felt like a sheep herder.

Were the boys happy enough to make it to the base of the mountain? Of course not! We had to hoof it up to the top.

Victory at the top of the mountain!

Forgot to mention that Ryan has started to grow a goatee. (Or maybe he just finished eating a pudding cup...I can't  really remember.)

It's been awhile since we explored part of the island. We did a much better job of that the first few years we were here getting re-acquainted and finding new hidden gems. I know some people love hiking in the dry forest, but I have to admit I'm more of a rain forest kind of girl...Kaloko or Volcano is definitely more my speed. However, it was priceless to see the boys have so much fun, and it was better than sitting at home playing train or cars for the hundredth time. :-) Not that that isn't WAY fun.