Climb that Mountain!

We went to the Big Island of Hawai'i in October, because well, this Mama needed to get up on a mountain tall enough to cool me off. Ha! That was not the reason, but still a good one. The actual reason was to celebrate Ben's birthday. He had to wait until he turned 12 to do the manta ray dive with Rob and it had finally happened! He decided he'd rather go diving than have a party this year, so for the first time in years, we didn't have a NERF war party for Ben. He's just growing up so fast!

Bonus, I got to do the manta ray snorkel with him the very next night. Manta rays are extraordinarily beautiful and so self aware. They came within an inch of being belly to belly with me so many times, but never quite touched. Absolutely majestic creatures.

The next day we took to the mountains. I was so excited about going up to Mauna Kea. I've read that if it was measured from it's base at the sea floor, it would be taller than Everest. We didn't realize we'd need a 4 wheel drive vehicle past a certain point, and our rental car was not gonna cut it. So we stopped at the visitor's center around 9,000 above sea level. We walked around a little and waited before heading out on a trail. It had been a long time since we did a hike at that kind of elevation, and Evie had never been able to be up that high and stay awake. When we lived in Utah, her pulmonary hypertension would cause her to fall asleep at any increased altitude. So taking her on hikes was never something we did. We might do a short drive up, enjoy the scenary, and then drive back down. So we really weren't sure how she would respond with being up there now, even though her cardio tests back in October of 2023 had cleared her of any signs of pulmonary hypertension.

We decided to do a short hike up this hill near the visitors center. It was pretty steep, and we got up above the clouds. It reminded me so much of Utah, but no big trees. I've never seen so much mullein in my life though! It was everywhere! Evie went on the hike on Rob's shoulders, best seat in the house. We were at the top at 9,435.69 feet above sea level. We couldn't believe how much energy she had! She was babbling, laughing, and exploring the rocks and dirt as if she was down at sea level.

After Mauna Kea we went to Volcanoes National Park and explored the crater viewpoints, and took the Kilauea Iki trail. It was otherworldly. Flowering plants growing out of the cracks of black lava flow as far as you could see. Buckles in the smooth black rock from earth quakes. It had rained lightly on us all the way down the trail, and was misty and foggy when we hit the old lava bed. It was breathtaking to come out of the rainforest trail where you could see nothing but vegetation and be in an alien landscape that was almost barren of life. Wild. Highly recommend.

After all of that time in the mountains, while our girl was pooped, she was still very much herself. She had energy all day. She was pink and breathing like she should. It was beautiful and another reason for all of us to be so incredibly grateful.

Say what you want about Hawai'i, good, bad, or whatever.  This place will always be where my son grew his fins, and where my baby girl healed.

I am forever grateful.