100/365 Na Pali Coast

100/365 Na Pali Coast
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.

In the summer of 1990, on a trip with high school and college friends, we hiked the Kalalau trail along the Na Pali Coast of Kauai. We all made it to Hanakapi'ai beach about 2 miles in. From the beach (generally sandy that summer -- there was only a small patch of sand on the day I took this photo) there's a 2-mile side hike up the Hanakapi'ai Valley to a large waterfall and pool, but... to cut a long story short, we didn't make it, and the failed attempt resulted in a fairly treacherous return hike at dusk without flashlights. (this, before the ubiquity of the flashlights and headlamps that now typifies our hiking gear.)

We missed this hike the last time we were on Kauai because, not naming any names here, but SOMEBODY insisted that we burn the last day on a second day of surfing. Not that there was strong opposition to the contrary.

So, anyway, on this trip, we wanted to make a point of doing this hike. And we wanted to make a point of getting to the waterfall, 'cause, y'know, we dig waterfalls. And my own personal history of failure in that department.

It turned out to be a good day for hiking. It was mostly sunny, and while there were a few scattered showers, they were actually nicely refreshing. However, maybe a little more than a mile into the hike, I started noticing a certain amount of achiness in my muscles that seemed to exceed what might reasonably be associated with surfing. And the headache which I had been noticing the previous afternoon, began intensifying, coupled with the fact that I really only get headaches when I'm hungover (and it was only one beer the previous night) or when I'm sick. (uh oh.) Other things I had been noticing that morning were falling into place, and it finally dawned on me, 1-1/2 miles into a strenuous 8-mile out-and-back hike, that I had a fever and was sick as a dog. During our Hawaiian surfing vacation.

We made it to the beach, rested for a bit. The SOOTTAD tried to force me to eat. (did I mention loss-of-appetite?) And then we hiked the 2 miles back to the car, the SOOTTAD drove us back to the cottage where we were staying, and I spent the rest of the day and a good chunk of the following day either passed out or curled up in a fetal position, moaning and whimpering in bed.

So I guess I just wasn't meant to see that waterfall after all. Duly noted.

2008 in review

I may have mentioned that 2008 was a pretty mixed year... although my current theory is that the awesomest part of 2008 was actually just the tail end of the mostly super-awesome 2007, or perhaps to reframe, we had a glorious year of the boar, and the year of the rat mostly sucked balls.

Anyway, here we go.

Highlights:

• 3 weeks in Hawai'i. (January -- tail of year of the Boar) Totally ruled.
• All-Balboa weekend in Cleveland -- great fun.
• Completed the Cape Cod marathon in 4:08:30
• New President! w00t!
• a week in Italy with my parents. A little rushed, but overall good.

Lowlights:

• ankle injury that has put me out of commission 6 weeks and counting.
• saying goodbye to our cat in December after he went through the final stages of kidney failure. He'd been my buddy for 16 of the 17 years that I've lived in New England. We are still sad.

Stats:

• Total days sick: 38 (Two spans, including combo bronchitis/sinusitis in July and most of the entire month of my birthday and up to the day of the marathon.)
• Birthdays of consequence: 1 (Let's just say that I am no longer in my 30s, and that this has not proven to be a good thing to date.)
• Cities visited: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Cleveland, Raleigh, Florence, Venice, Rome, Honolulu, Hilo, Lihue, Manhattan, Fergus, Buffalo, Kansas City
• States Visited: 9 (CA, HI, IL, KS, NC, NH, NV, NY, OH)
• Countries Visited: 2 (Canada, Italy)
• Airplane legs: 31
• Concerts attended: 3 (80s punk bands: 1)
• Miles run: 806 (in 6 states)
• Weddings attended: 3
• Dance workshops attended: 2
• Ultimate frisbee tournaments: 4
• Ultimate frisbee tournaments (>200mi away): 2
• Ultimate Frisbee tournament injuries: 1
• (tournaments >200mi away, lifetime: 6)
• (injuries at tournaments >200mi away, lifetime: 3)
• Awesome people to be married to: 1 (makes it all better.)

Self-discovery and forgetfulness

Found this in the archives, dated March 23, 2005:

Sometimes self-discovery is a lot like figuring our where the wall is by banging your head against it.

I know that 2005 had a few rough spots (jeez, every year seems to have a few of them) and I have a vague idea what it was about (something about establishing boundaries, dealing the others), but I'm happy to have forgotten the details of the experience and simply hope that I've at least internalized the lesson.