Honolulu, Oahu Hawaii

Shawna and I were off this morning to hike Diamond Head Crater.  The volcano stands over Kahanamoku Beach and the city.  The crater formed long ago and has been dormant/dead from long before the first people came to the islands.

A little bit of history:

Diamond Head, named Le'Ahi by the Hawaiians, is a volcanic tuff cone and was formed in a single brief but violent eruption.. The Hawaiian name is most likely because the shape of the ridgeline resembles the shape of a tuna's dorsal fin and Le'Ahi means ridge of a tuna. Its English name was given by British sailors in the 1800s, who named it for the calcite crystals on the adjacent beach and on the sides of the cone which they first thought were diamonds.  Wow, they were disappointed.

Our tour guide drove us through Honolulu to Diamond Head and through the one way tunnel to the state park entrance in the caldera. 

The hike is from the crater floor to the ridge where a military emplacement called Fort Ruger was installed to protect the island during WWII. Above you can see the emplacement to where we will hike.  

When we started our climb it was smooth and only a small incline but soon turned rough and steep.

As we hiked up the walls of the interior of the volcano were interesting.  This is a very ancient volcano and the walls are made-up of layers of fine and very large grain ash. This made digging for the emplacement very dangerous.

Beyond the many switchbacks was the 225 foot tunnel.

A few more steps and then the Lookout.

More stairs to the emplacement at the volcano rim.

From the Outlook, we got a view of Waikiki beach, Honolulu, and even the sub.

The emplacement is pretty interesting.  Of course, it has been changed from military to "State park" configuration.  It still is a bit of a challenge at points.

Next the LONG 99 step drop back down. Looking back up is even more impressive.

We were pretty tired when we got back to the ship.  Time for a shower, lunch, and a drink at the Crow's Nest. Next is playing cards with Betty and watch a sunset.

Honolulu was shining for us and the Aloha clock tower was lit in the evening.  It was not technically a lighthouse but at 10 floors tall it did guide ships into the harbor as it could be seen at night from 15 miles off shore.  For decades, passenger ships and seaplanes would stop here after the long sea voyage from the mainland.