Diamond Head
On the fourth day, we decided to climb Diamond Head, an extinct tuff ring crater with a 760-foot summit. In the early 1900’s, the crater was fortified for harbor defense, with a battery of cannons, an observation deck at the summit, and a four-level underground complex within the walls of the crater. Almost all of that has been abandoned by now, and today hiking to the summit is a tourist attraction.
The tourist guides claim this is an easy to moderate hike, but they are insane. First of all, despite how pleasantly warm it is elsewhere on the island in August, on the dry, barren crater it’s about 1500 degrees. So your energy is quickly sapped as the sun beats down on your head. Then you have hot dry wind swirling around you, blowing sand in your eyes. Most of the trail is paved, but some parts are just dirt and grapefruit-sized rocks that you have to gingerly walk over or around. Then there are two sets of very steep stairs, one with 99 steps and one with 76. Also there is a 225-foot tunnel without any lights, so you may need a flashlight. If you’re the sort of person who hikes mountain trails all the time, this is going to be a piece of cake. Otherwise, it’s about an hour of misery each way.
The vignetting you see in my photos (the dark corners) is the result of putting my polarizing filter on top of my UV filter. With all the sand blowing around, I didn’t want to risk scratching my lens while changing filters.
If you really want to give it a go, my advice is to get there as early in the morning as you can; the gates open at 6:00 am. Also, drive or take a taxi, because if you take a city bus like we did, you have an extra mile-long walk before you hit the actual trail, and then again after you come back down. Sunrise from the summit is probably quite nice, and only about 900 degrees.
Aloha Tower