The Pony Express 100 mile race

Pony Express 100 mile finish photo

Pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, upping my game and rising up to new challenges is what I describe as "the spice of life". After having completed 18 marathons, 9 ultra marathons, a 250km stage race across the Kalahari Desert and hiking across America and Spain, I was up for the next big challenge of completing a 100 mile race.

This dream led me to researching all the possible 100 mile races out there in North America and I came across the Pony Express 100 in Utah. After reading up about the history and geography of the race it really piqued my interest.

"With the discovery of gold in California in 1848, and the increasing political tensions of the 1850s which led to the Civil War, it became imperative to keep the far West in the Union by providing a more dependable source of information from the East. Finally it was decided: light, tough young men would be selected and hired to ride the best and fastest horse-flesh money could buy. There were to be eighty riders. Four hundred other men were to run the way stations, some of which already existed for the coach line.The proposed route was brutally simple; west out of St. Joseph, up the Platte and Sweetwater rivers, through South Pass and the Rockies to Salt Lake City, out across the Utah and Nevada deserts, up and over the Sierra Nevada and into California, as fast as man and animal could go, day and night.
In the interest of speed, careful consideration was given to weight. Riders had to weigh less than 120 pounds. Only twenty-five pounds were allowed for equipment which included four mail pouches sewn on leather thrown across the saddle, a light rifle, and Colt revolver. Each mail delivery was limited to twenty pounds; total weight on the horse: 165 pounds.
Riders wore a bright red shirt and blue pants. They carried a small brass horn to signal their coming, which was later eliminated when it was discovered the hoof beats did the same thing. Each rider was issued a Bible to sustain their courage and hardiness to make the ride through potentially dangerous country of Indians, bandits, deadly blizzards and murderous heat. Although the Pony Express lasted only 19 months, the associated glamour, both fact and fiction, has assured it a large and lasting chapter in the history of the West. In October 1861 the Pony Express was officially terminated. It became obsolete by the advent of the telegraph system." (Obtained from https://utah.com/pony-express-trail).

Last chance for anything at the Silver Sage in the desert

We found this monster truck at the Silver Sage

Route marker for the Pony Express on the highway

This 100 mile race is also unique for many reasons and one of those is that it does not offer any aide stations, except at the 50 mile point at Blackrock. The runners have to provide their own crew and vehicle. Being so remote in the Utah desert means that there is no access to any facilities or stores nearby. Josh was to be my crew and support person and I did not have a pacer at all for the race. We knew that this would be a challenge coming all the way from Hawaii and had decided ahead of time that we would take this opportunity to do an extended road trip afterwards to explore the beautiful National Parks in Wyoming and visit Josh's family in North Dakota and Washington State. On investigating how expensive a rental car would be for the trip, bearing in mind that a 4 wheel drive would be a better option for the race crew vehicle, it became more feasible to purchase a used truck in Salt Lake City on arrival to do the race with, enjoy a road trip and ship the truck back to Hawaii from Seattle, seeing as we needed to purchase one anyway for our farm on the Big Island. This way we would be able to kill many birds with one stone, so to speak and in retrospect it certainly worked out well and the way we envisioned it would.

Gorgeous fall foliage at Temple Square In Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City State Capitol with the taste of Aloha

We arrived in Salt Lake City a couple of days before the start of the race and found the perfect vehicle that same day after a vigorous 12 hour non-stop hunt. The following day consisted of purchasing food and camping supplies for the race and adventure ahead.

Our Big Agnes tent at Lookout Campground

Creating the "Aloha Mobile"

The night before the race we camped at the start of the race at Lookout Campground on the historic Pony Express Trail.

The wind had picked up momentum but fortunately the campground was relatively sheltered and we spent the evening meeting with race director Davy Crockett, picked up my race number and runner's packet and chatted with a few of the other runners. I discovered that I had travelled the second furthest for the race as another runner had travelled all the way from the Netherlands.

Meeting race director Davy Crockett

A sign of things to come!

Somewhere I had read that it was encouraged to decorate your support vehicle, so we went all-out to turn our truck into an "Aloha Mobile". We had brought two Hawaiian flags with us which we attached to the tailgate and inscribed the words "Aloha" and "Hawaii on the Pony Express" with soccer-mom car paint onto the windows. It was immense fun representing the Aloha State.

Sunset at Lookout Campground in the desert

That evening we were treated to a spectacular desert sunset after which we snuggled into our cozy sleeping bags to prepare for an early 5am start on Friday morning.

All I wanted to accomplish was finishing the race before the 30 hour cut-off time.

The early morning was cold at about 30 degrees F with a swift and icy 40 mile/hour sustained headwind gusting at times to about 50 miles/hour. 26 runners started the 100 mile race and 23 runners started the 50 mile option. It was really tough starting out on such a long and challenging foot race fighting against this cold wind but I was thankful that it was not accompanied by rain. Despite the weather challenges, I felt good and we had decided upon a game plan where Josh would meet me every 5 miles along the dirt trail, where I would exchange my 12oz/350ml water bottle for another electrolyte replacement drink and pop an electrolyte replacement capsule (Endurolytes) at the same time.
Every 10 miles I would stop briefly to have a snack and change my socks to prevent blistering of my feet. At mile 20 I did a super quick running outfit change to eliminate chafing from wet sweaty clothes. We did this like a NASCAR pit-stop: stop; change clothes, socks, shoes, drink some soup and eat something light....but it was still time consuming! My favorite snack was a Mamma Chia pouch which contained organic fruit puree and chia seeds. Any of the other running supplements like GU sachets did not sit well with my stomach with the result that I only had one the entire race. Fortunately I had plenty of Mamma Chia.

Pony Express 100 route with support vehicles

The straight, long desert track

The race course was an extremely hard and compacted jeep track with a layer of loose rocks and gravel on top and by mile 15, both my knees felt broken as each footfall would cause my feet to roll over the rocks and stones. I had to push the knee pain aside in my mind and not focus on it, while I tried to reduce the severity of it by taking ibuprofen and Tylenol intermittently.

Scenery along the Pony Express 100 mile race

The salt flats in the Utah Desert

There was also the presence of other drivers on this jeep track, people spending the weekend camping at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge which was located at the 58.2 mile turn around point of the race. These people had little regard for the runners and some would come hurtling past us at 70mph as we tried to stay close to the left hand edge of the trail, leaving us struggling to breathe in the massive clouds of dust they left in their wake. This fine dust also contained salt particles from the surrounding salt flats and I coughed up this dirt and salt mixture for at least two days after the race.

Mail station and Monument at Simpson Springs

Pony Express Monument

The first check in point was at Simpson Springs, located 16.4 miles into the race. This was also to be the finishing point as the turn around point was located at 58.2 miles. A replica building of the Pony Express mail station (and the crumbling, fenced-off ruins of the original station) as well as a monument to the Pony Express were located at this point.

33.3 miles at Dugway Well and the warmest part of the race

By the time I reached Dugway Well at 33.3 miles to clock in, I had been battling the high winds for hours and had even been fearful of potential wildfires when I smelled the aroma of fire and mistook a sandstorm for smoke in the distance. A rattlesnake had been lying on the trail which I almost stepped on which gave me a shot of adrenaline. This was the warmest part of the day, but still decidedly chilly when I stopped momentarily to refuel. My electrolyte drink varied between Tradewind (which had a caffeine kick and was more tolerable) and HEED.

"Pony Express" in action

Representing the Aloha State

After passing Dugway Well came the steep Dugway Pass and a sweeping turn to the west. Josh was planning on meeting me on the other side of the pass as the support vehicles were not allowed to stop on the pass. Once up and over on the other side, I was delighted to see the "Aloha Mobile" parked on the side of the trail but when I reached it, it was locked and Josh was nowhere in sight. I called out, stretched for a moment and there was still no sign of him. At this point I decided not to waste time and press on after asking the crew in another vehicle to let him know that I had continued. Awhile later Josh appeared looking stressed. He explained that he had walked to the top of the pass with the drone in preparation of filming me coming up and over the pass. This had been the first opportunity he had of flying the drone as it was sheltered from the incessant wind by the hill. As the drone had been hovering over the steep drop-off of the pass, it suddenly dropped from the sky and crash landed into the bushes below, out of sight. In a panic, he had to review the footage he had obtained while it was flying and crashing, to ascertain where it may have landed. He then scrambled down the steep embankment, through the sage bushes and desert brush, where he fortunately managed to locate it. The drone had suffered a few scratches and a broken propeller but at least it had been found and could easily be repaired. That was the end of any potential drone footage we may have had.

By this time I had established a connection with other runners who had a similar pace as we passed each other intermittently depending on our aide stops. Just before the sun set, it was exhilarating to pass Blackrock at 48.5 miles as I knew that I was almost half way there and was still within the safe time cutoff zone, although I realized that there was no time to dilly dally at stop points as the clock was ticking and there were cutoff times at all the check in stations ahead.

The salt flats at dusk

The cold, bleak desert night setting in

The worst part of the race for me was when the sun went down between Blackrock and Fish Springs. Josh had gone on ahead to wait at the 5 mile point as we had agreed upon. During this time, day suddenly turned to night, the temperature plummeted severely and I was not dressed warmly enough. I also had not yet put on my reflective vest and blinkie lights and it got very dark, very quickly. My hands were both swollen at this point, as they do when I run ultra marathons but my right hand seemed to have swelled to double the size and the back of my hand looked navy blue in color. I started to panic, felt nauseous, shaking uncontrollably from hypothermia and was scared I would lose my hand (I'm sure my brain was not functioning at optimum levels due to hypoglycemia too). When I reached Josh, I was a crying, shaking mess and he was very concerned but proved to be a practical, rational crew and massaged my hands back to life, helped me to dress into warm running clothes which consisted of multiple layers from head to toe and thick snow boarding gloves. Once I had consumed some calories and warmed up I was ready to go again but had lost 20 minutes.

Sunset at the midway point

Original route markers of the Pony Express Trail

Up until the turnaround point at 58.2miles at Fish Springs which I reached in the pitch black darkness of a moonless, cold night, I had my training to rely on. From here on out, I had to rely on was my mental focus to complete the race. All I knew was that failure was not an option and I had my mind firmly focused on obtaining my 100 mile belt buckle. Nothing else mattered. We had planned a change of clothes and socks at this point but all I could think of was that it was time to get moving and declined this time-consuming option. It is completely true when you hear people say that the second half of a 100 mile race is all mental. I felt that state of mind kick in and it stayed with me until I crossed the finish line.

After this, Josh and I decided that he would park alongside the trail every 2 miles as it was cold, dark and there were wild animals about. Earlier in the day we had seen wild mustang and antelope, although they were too far from the trail to get a decent photograph.

Passing through the Blackrock timing station again, I felt relieved that I was still well within the cutoff times but the pressure was mounting. I thought that if I did finish, I would probably scrape through with a few minutes to spare, but that was fine, I just WANTED THE BELT BUCKLE!

It was beautiful out there in the desert. A trillion stars were out and the wind had dropped a little. I spent many hours passing a group of young guys back and forth and Josh gave aloha to other runners who needed things like batteries for their headlamp.

At Dugway Well (83.1 miles) I knew that if I just kept up my current momentum that there was a chance I could make it. The last 25 miles were spent with my eye on the prize and little regard to my shattered knees and feet nor my stomach which could not tolerate anything. My mind kept my feet moving forward. I nibbled on two saltine crackers and had a few sips of Perpetuem recovery drink over this 25 mile stretch. Josh tried his best to coax me into taking in more calories to no avail. I did not want to waste time by vomiting. I just had to get to the finish. Those last miles seemed to go on forever along this straight and desolate desert trail with a rather nasty little hill climb right at the end which seemed like a cruel joke but once over the top, the end was in sight!

Elation at the completion of 100 miles straight

 With the Race director and crew of the Pony Express 100

I completed the race feeling absolutely elated in 28:25:32. Davy Crockett presented me with my well-earned belt buckle at the finish and then to my complete surprise and amazement I was awarded first place in my age division (Maters Female) for the 2017 Utah 100 mile State Championship.

Wow! Wow! Wow! What an incredible experience! I absolutely would not have done as well as I did without the incredible support and crewing from Josh who went above and beyond both during my training and during the race to ensure that I would succeed in my goal.

To all the race organizers, crew and volunteers of this extraordinary race, a huge thank you for facilitating such a fantastic event, one that has changed my life forever.

The cherished 100 mile belt buckle and Utah State Championship medal

After completing the race, I felt a little dizzy and could still not tolerate anything orally due to extreme nausea. Thirty minutes after driving off I felt myself break out into a hot sweat and go into a deep dark tunnel, losing consciousness for a few minutes. Josh had to pull over and revive me. I think I was very hypoglycemic and my brain was depleted of sugar. By evening time I felt significantly improved after slowly replacing calories which became easier as the nausea diminished.

Our motel in Jackson Wyoming

The Antler Arch in Jackson Wyoming (these antlers were dropped during molting season)

That afternoon we drove all the way to Jackson Wyoming and found a motel called "The Pony Express" to recover in for the night which seemed the most fitting accommodation for the occasion.

Snow dusting at Grand Teton

Snowball!!

The moody Tetons in the mist

The remainder of our adventure included a blissful journey through the Grand Teton National Park with it's spectacular mountains and Yellowstone National Park with stunning geysers and wildlife. After watching a sensational show given by Old Faithfull and enjoying the snow covered beauty of the park we were treated to a close encounter with a herd of elk at the north gate at Mammoth Springs.

Full glory of the Teton Mountains at sunrise

A snowy Yellowstone Park

The guardian of Old Faithful

Castle Geyser in Yellowstone

Onward we journeyed through Montana and into North Dakota where the landscape is dotted with oil wells. Here we enjoyed visiting with Josh's family and really had a wonderful time bonding and revisiting the places and stories of his youth, going through old photographs and appreciating this valuable opportunity. It was fantastic to meet his Mom Deb, grandmother Vivian and grandfather Ken who had just turned 90 years old, as well as his aunt Jan, uncle Rick and cousin Adria and Sammie. What a treat! I must add that I have never felt this cold in my life with temperatures going down to the teens F accompanied by a chilly north wind which felt like it was blowing straight from the arctic tundra.

Montana is the place to see dinosaur fossils

Oil wells dot the landscape of North Dakota

A herd of Bison in Yellowstone

A beautiful Coyote in Yellowstone

On leaving Minot we travelled through  New Town in the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and onto the majestic Badlands ( North Dakota's grand canyon) at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

In the history garden outside 4 Bears Casino and Lodge on Lake Sakakawea

The Badlands of North Dakota

Going back through Montana we stayed over in the historical town of Butte, made famous for it's gold/silver/copper and zinc open pit and underground mining. It was fun reading about the history and exploring the old town historical district.

Historical mining shaft in the town of Butte Montana

90 ft Statue of  "Our Lady of the Rockies which stands above Butte, Montana

The journey took us across the panhandle of Idaho and through the picturesque town of Coeur d'Alene where we stopped for lunch and stretched our legs by taking a walk along the shoreline of the immense lake.

Gorgeous lake in Coeur d'Alene in Idaho

Fall foliage in Couer d'Alene Idaho

We were greeted by the magnificent sight of the Columbia River Gorge once we crossed over into Washington state and headed straight to Josh's brother Travis, his lovely wife Kelli and their wonderful son Jourdan. A great time was spent in their gorgeous home on the edge of a forest with family Mike & Penny and long time friends, Troy & Erin and April & Greg while we enjoyed a late lunch and watched the Seahawks defeat the Texans in a NFL Football game.

Welcome to Washington State

The Columbia River Gorge

We dropped the truck now named "Pony Express" off at the shipping company in Seattle, enjoyed a last day in the city and the adventure had now come to an end. I could never have imagined it being more successful! My 100 mile race finish achieved, a spectacular road trip through six States, a beautiful reunion with family and friends and a fabulous truck which we can use for our next adventure of building a sustainable home and lifestyle. A massive thank you to all concerned for helping us have such a fantastic experience and for all the love and kindness we received along the way.

Happy in Washington State

Dream it. See it. Be it.

Big Island in the wild

To celebrate the completion of an epic year Dreadknot and I decided to fly over to the Big Island of Hawaii from Oahu and have a three day camping and day hiking adventure.

It's always a fantastic experience flying over the chain of islands which forms Hawaii. If you sit on the right side of the plane you can look out of the window and see Molokai, Maui and the impressive peak of Mauna Kea as you descend to land in Hilo on the east side of  the island of Hawaii, otherwise known as the Big Island.

Hilo is a picturesque seaside town on the lush, windward side of the island. It's lush for a reason, it rains a lot here. Arriving here one gets a feeling of going back in time to "old Hawaii", with its quaint buildings in the town center, framed by the often snow capped Mauna Kea in the distance and the tsunami vulnerable Hilo Bay forming the ocean access point. 

Somewhere over the Rainbow:

Our quest for today was to see as many waterfalls as possible. We started in Hilo and wound our way to the Hamakua Coast and then on to the Kohala Mountains and Waipio Valley.

Rainbow Falls aka Wai'anuenue Falls: This was our first destination.

 The walk consisted of a 0.75 mile stroll including a viewing point and then along a little muddy trail past a beautiful big Banyan tree upstream from the falls followed by boulder hopping which took us alongside the cascade of water from the top of the waterfall. 

What an invigorating experience! We were at this vantage point at precisely the right time of day (between 10:00am and midday when the angle of the sun is perfect) and were able to enjoy seeing a rainbow above the waterfall's 80ft drop over a large lava cave into the pool below along the Wailuku River.

According to Hawaiian mythology, the goddess Hina lived in this cave which seems quite an elementally charged place to call home. 

With no time to waste we drove up along the Hamakua Coast to reach our next waterfall experience.

Enroute we took the scenic detour past Onomea Bay, passing over numerous streams and smaller waterfalls as we snaked along, admiring the beautiful black sand beach and bay lined with lush tropical jungle foliage. A 600ft hike down to sea level takes you along a trail to Onomea Stream. Apparently this bay used to be a busy port during the early heyday of the sugarcane industry which does not exist anymore.

Akaka Falls State Park is about 11 miles north of Hilo and just outside of the old-world town of Honomu. The park contains a well maintained paved walkway which circles around in about a 0.5 mile trail and allows you to walk through the lush jungle which includes beautiful orchids, ferns, bamboo groves and Banyan trees, while enjoying the sights of the magnificent Akaka Falls as it plummets 442ft into a gorge. Kahuna Falls (100ft) lies a little further in the distance.

 If you don't want to pay the $5 parking fee, park outside the gates along the road.

I've come across two different legends surrounding Akaka Falls. One was of a chief named Akaka who plummeted to his death over the falls after running away from his angry wife when she found out he was having an affair with two maidens, Lehua and Maile. The word "Akaka" means notch or cleft.

A long drive followed to the windward side of the Kohala mountains on the northeast shore of the island. After passing through the charming town of Honokaa, we arrived at Waipio Valley lookout. What a breathtaking vantage point! Ahead lay the valley which was once home to King Kamehameha with a black sand beach way down in the distance against the striking panoramic vista of plummeting cliffs and the wild Pacific Ocean.

The hike down into Waipio Valley is along an extremely steep, paved but rutted road which can only be accessed in a four wheel drive vehicle or on foot and is very slippery when wet.

We were lured into this sacred place with the hope of seeing Hi'ilawe Falls and the 1450ft torrent of water falling from its heights. It was already fairly late in the afternoon by the time we reached the lush, verdant valley floor and continued left along the road towards the waterfall. After rounding a bend we were greeted with the spectacular sight of Hi'ilawe Falls in the distance. As we continued on we passed by a few homesteads and a "coconut weather station". 

Upon reaching the river we were unsure of which way to go to reach the falls. There were signs up saying that the trail was closed and that you would be trespassing if you attempted to hike there. After striking up a conversation with two locals parked beside the river we decided to walk a short way along the river bank. They told us that it was really too late in the day to make it to the falls and back before dark and we did not have our headlamps with us. We heard woeful tales about how hikers had been drowned or injured walking this trail in the dark. 

Once we had gone a little way along the river bank we could see how close the trail was to people's homes and cut it right through an ancient burial site in the woods. Through the branches emerged a glimpse of Hi'ilawe beckoning. We did not continue as it felt wrong to be trespassing, as well as the fact that it would be dark within a couple of hours. A joint decision was made that we would be back in the future and get permission to hike here. I'd also like to mention that the Hawaiian song, Hi'ilawe recorded by Gabby Pahinui in 1947 and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and John Cruz more recently,  is one of my favorites.

Back up from half a steep climb and a short hitch up the hill, we made our way to our designated campsite for the night all the way down in the south of Puna at Isaac Hale Beach Park, approximately a 45 mile drive. We had acquired a camping permit online and arrived in the dark to set up our awesome Big Agnes Flycreek UL3. I had been sponsored by Big Agnes for our hiking adventure across northern Spain. 

It rained overnight and the air was chilly but we remained warm, dry and cosy in our cocoon. I must add that the camp facilities were minimal, only consisting of toilets, a sink and cold outdoor shower but the grounds are pretty and right beside the ocean.

The sound of car tyres scrunching the gravel car park and car headlights flickering through the tent awoke us at around 4:00am. Upon inspection we saw tourists boarding a huge boat in the car park via a ladder. They were about to be towed to the boat ramp all nicely seated in the boat and sail away in the dark in order to observe the lava flowing into the ocean a little way down the coast before sunrise.

After a morning of property hunting, an exploration drive followed and we wound our way along Government Beach Road, through old lava fields and into the thick of a lush tropical jungle near Hawaiian Beaches, where we stumbled upon a beautiful work of art " Moonwalker", displayed in Papio Ocean Park. 

During our flight over from Oahu while "talking story" with some other passengers we learned that there was a beach just north of Hilo nicknamed "glass beach" where one can apparently pick up a fair amount of sea glass off the black sand beach. We guessed that it may be Honolii Beach, which is also a popular surf break, but after speaking with a couple of super friendly lifeguards we discovered that it was actually the next beach up. However they suggested we look along the small section of sand beneath the bridge, which we did, and were subsequently rewarded with many glistening pieces of multi-colored ocean smoothed glass.

That evening, we too decided that it would be awesome to see Madam Pele, goddess of the volcano at work and set off down Hwy 130 to the gravel road entrance to the now lava covered Kalapana Gardens which leads into Volcanoes National Park. The turn was just before the village of Kalapana which had been destroyed and partly buried by a lava flow in the 80's.

Starting out at dusk we hiked the 8.5 miles round trip journey to the lava viewing area on the blackened lava cliffs. As we walked along we were amazed out how resilient people were, reclaiming the land that had been over taken by the lava flow in Kalapana Gardens in 2010. They had literally rebuilt their houses on top of the hardened black lava. 

As we went along, hundreds of people were cycling towards us, leaving the lava viewing site in the dark. A string of headlamps were streaming along the the track, and the bicycle rental operations at the start of the trail were obviously doing a booming business. The beautiful Hawaiian song " Holei, a song for Kalapana" played over and over on my mind as the chilly night wind whipped around us in the dark, with the huge plume of billowing smoke lit up red at its base showing us our destination.

A roped off section allowed us to clamber over the lava rock and visualize the elemental power of Mother Earth as molten lava spewed forth. Upon meeting the raging ocean, it lit up the waves and sent smoke and steam into the air above it.

What we didn't know then, was that this area we were standing on would break off in two days time, causing this 26 acre lava delta to go smashing into the ocean below, even causing a small tsunami to occur.

Such are the exhilarating tales from life on the islands.

Once we returned to our campsite, it only took a few minutes for us to pop our tent up again and we slept peacefully through another night of rain. Again we were awoken early by the boat people. With no time to waste we packed up camp as soon as dawn broke and ventured upcountry along Hwy 11 to the village of Volcano to seek out some breakfast. We couldn't have chosen a better venue and enjoyed a sumptuous feast beside a log fire in the early morning mist at Kilauea Lodge.

The journey continued along Hwy 11, through the huge tracts of open land as we descended steadily down the flanks of Mauna Loa. Our destination for the day was Punaluu Black Sand Beach and South Point, the most southerly tip of Hawaii and the USA.

I discovered the meaning of Punaluu during this trip.

It comes from the words "diving (lu'u) " and "spring (puna)". Ancient Hawaiians had a tradition of diving to the bottom of the bay with upside down containers and filling them with the fresh water bubbling through the sand from springs. On arriving at This gorgeous beach I could clearly see how it got its name.

Adjacent to the incredible black sand beach and the stark contrast of the rolling white foam caused by waves breaking on its shore, was a magnificent fresh water pond filled with flowering water lilies. 

Behind the pond and over a rickety bridge lay the remains of a resort, now lying in ruin and being taken back by the jungle. From what I could gather the resort development was abandoned due to local opposition. I fully understand why there was opposition.This area is an ancient sacred place for Hawaiians, it has a Heiau complex (temple) stretching for miles along the shoreline. One of the heiau's, Lanipau was almost completely destroyed by the development of the golf course here. A great example of the power of people uniting to protect cultural heritage sites.

Fortunately part of the Heiau complex often referred to as Punalu'u Nui is still intact. 

We walked up the heiau path to experience being in this spiritual place and could most certainly feel the "mana" (energy). From here we could see the ancient trail "Ala Kahakai "extending into the distance. This trail was important as it linked coastal communities and legend says that the god Lono walked along this lava rock trail from North Kohala to the southernmost tip of the island and then windward through the Ka'u region to Puna, (in other words it was a very long walk).

Watching cliff jumpers at South Point and taking in the beauty of this most southerly tip of the Hawaiian island chain was a wonderful way to end our adventure and we'll definitely be back for more.

If you'd like to read stories about my running adventures and walk along the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in book form, I would be delighted if you purchased my book " Dream it. See it. Be it. ", available in person, on Amazon or via my website www.heatherhowells.com.

Mahalo for joining me on this adventure.