When my friend Sarah of the popular Instagram SDFearless asked if I wanted to go on a “little” hike in Honolulu before we hit the beach I said sure. As we approached the Koko Crater Railway trailhead a woman walked briskly to her car panting that she needed water. An older woman approached us her face stoic, she said “If you can’t finish, it’s okay. Just pace yourself. It’s okay to give up.” Her words fueled my apprehension.
Stepping from rail to rail was easy at first. However as the trail became steeper and the sun beat down I began to doubt my ability to complete the hike. Suddenly there was a bridge with no railings to cross, the view of the ground below in between the railway ties was terrifying. I focused on the rail directly in front of me moving from rail to rail till I made it across. Sarah barely broke a sweat and ran up portions of the trail. The last stretch of the trail was excruciatingly steep. Even using my hands to pull myself up my knees were still burning. My head filled with dizziness and I felt nauseous. I had to rest every ten feet until my head cleared and the nausea subsided. After ten feet or so it returned, the lack of shade was draining. My friend Sarah was very patient with me, she smiled and offered to call it day and go to the beach. I knew I would regret it if I didn’t make it to the top. Progress was slow, when we finally reached the top Sarah took a victory picture. I’ll let you look at the photos below-the scenery made up for every difficulty hiking up.
