David Fry

Sue and I nearly completed the Mt. Olympus hike yesterday. The trail snakes along the ridge line with views into Manoa and Palolo valleys. We made it within about 200 ft of elevation of the summit, but elected to head back without finishing the final steep climb to the summit.

Of all the hiking trails on Oahu, this is the one I enjoy most because there is so much shade for the first half of the trail and the mountain breezes keep it cool.

Shortly after starting back, one of Sue's hiking boots fell completely apart. Being a gallant husband I gave her my right shoe and figured I could make it back with one shoe and just a sock on my right foot. That turned out to be more difficult than I had imagined. With only one shoe, I only had my left leg to slow my descent down the 1100 feet in elevation we'd climbed. My sock wasn't very good protection against the small rocks or the roots so I had to choose my steps very carefully. So we took it much slower on the way back.

Sometimes I feel protected by providence. Another half mile down the trail and we found the last thing I would have expected -- a pair of Nike running shoes sitting on a branch right by the trail. They were filled with leaves and had some cobwebs so they had been there a while, but we hadn't seen them when we were climbing the trail. The left shoe was falling apart, but the right shoe, the one I needed, was still in pretty decent shape. It was one size too large and the rubber tread on the bottom was coming off of the stay-puft padding, which always seems to be a problem with Nike shoes when they get wet. Eventually the rubber came off, which meant a little less traction, but the padding still gave me a lot more protection for my right foot.

So to whoever left the pair of Nike shoes on the side of the Mount Olympus trail, mahalo!

 
Lehua blossoms on an Ohia tree.

Sue on the trail, still with functional footwear.

I spotted these wild orchids growing along the trail.

The view from near the top overlooks Palolo and Manoa valleys, Diamond Head and Waikiki.

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