I didn't think I had it in me

Matt and I have vowed to become more physically active. We went for a walk twice this week, and we are eating much healthier than we used to. Today, we went hiking. We found a hiking trail at the top of a nearby mountain while driving around one day and made mental note of it. That was the trail we decided to hike today. I wish we would have done a little more research than that.

We started our afternoon by grabbing a sandwich at Subway (hey, if it worked for Jared...) and then stopped for a couple bottles of Propel fitness water. Armed with a backpack with the water, a camera, binoculars, and Matt's cell phone, we set off on our hike at 1:30. Since I am so horribly out of shape, the first part of the hike was naturally hard. The terrain throughout the entire trail was peppered with rocks and tree roots, so I couldn't exactly drag my feet. Each step involved stepping over something. In the beginning, the trail went uphill a ways, which was quite a challenge for me. I quickly became out of breath, but we trekked on.

The views were awesome. The first part of the trail faces the mountains, and the valleys below were full of nothing but trees and ferns. I've got some cool pictures that I will post sooner than later. Once we settled into a regular pace, which was a little faster than regular walking, I was ok. The trail leveled out a bit, once in a while dipping downhill or going uphill, but it mainly wound around the mountaintop. We came to a cool spot where we could see H3, the highway that runs high through the mountains, connecting the Pearl Harbor area with the East part of the island. There were many spots where logs were blocking the path and we had to climb over them. There were also sections of the trail, with no guardrails, where there was a rather steep drop on either side of you. Mentally, I had picked the side that looked less painful should I lose my balance and need to fall.

In the middle of the hike we also came across a piece (wing) of a WWII B-24J bomber that had crashed there in 1944. There was a sign posted above it, detailing that the rest of the wreckage was down in the gully, which is inaccessible. The cause of the crash was never determined. We both thought that was pretty cool. I have pictures of that, too.

After mostly non-stop hiking for two hours, I was starting to get a little tired. We saw a sign at the beginning of the trail that said it was a three hour hike, a 4.5 mile hike total. By this time, both of us were drenched in sweat (it was a nice day here, but still over 80 degrees), my feet, ankles, knees and back were starting to get really sore, and I just wanted to be done hiking. Then the worst happened - the trail turned all uphill!! I don't mean gradually uphill, either, it was a steep uphill climb over (and under) trees and rocks. So, for our last hour, we climbed uphill, with frequent rest stops for me, because by this time I was seriously huffing and puffing.

But eventually we made it out of the woods, and we're home now, and we both feel pretty darn good about completing the hike. However, we are going to buy a Hawaii hiking guide and try an easier trail next weekend. Tomorrow, we're going snorkeling. :)