Diamond Head Hike

Location: Diamond Head, Waikiki Oahu

Time of Year: July 2008

Other info: Wear proper footwear for this hike, I was wearing flip flops as our original destination was Kapiolani Park and then we saw Diamond head was close and decided to walk up and around to the entrance and hike to the summit. The Trail is in decent condition a lot of tourists, tunnel sections, stairs and darkness. Also water is essential as there is no source of water on the hike and depending on the time of day you can bake in the crater as there is not much shade to cool off in. In total our walk was around 10 miles from hotel to summit.
One thing that I remember from the hike is that the Diamond Head is comprise of Tuff which has a resistant to erosional forces i.e. wind and water which in essenes is not tough at all, kind of nerdy but I still remember it so it works.
Also the crater provided a home for a military base which is much smaller than the days of the mid 20th century so the trail that we walked is the trail that the military used to carve out its tunnels for strategic lookouts on the ridge of the crater.

(Taken from Google Maps)

The red circle indicates the location of Diamond Head Crater in relation to Oahu.




(Taken from Google Maps)

Point A: Location of the hotel
Point B: No significance to the trip just where we turned to move on to the park
Point C: Kapiolani Park/ Zoo (Original Destination)
Point D: The entrance road to the Crater
Total distance to this point 2.2 miles, total distance to summit 5 miles (estimation, one way)



The classic Hawaiian shot of Waikiki golden sand, turquoise water and Diamond Head in the back ground.



The summit of Diamond Head 760 ft in elevation

View from the top (NW) over looking Waikiki, Kapiolani park the beaches and the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean

View from the top (NE) over looking Waikiki's residential areas which are moving up the slopes. Also in the foreground is a hut that is connected to the many tunnels that are in the ridge created by the military as a look out.

View from the top (SE) over looking the Crater floor where the military base exists today but in a much much smaller scale. In the distance to the left is Koko Head which has a crazy seat of stairs going straight up the side. Also Hanauma Bay is located on the other side of the mound to the right of Koko Head.

This is some interesting dry plant life or former plant life as it looks dried up but it was really spiky looking and caught my eye.

Astoria Or.

Location: Astoria Oregon

Time of Year: October, Thanksgiving, 2007

Other info: Astoria is famous for the Astoria Bridge as seen in the picture which connects Washington and Oregon. Another famous fact about Astoria is that it played the home of The Goonies, Kindergarten Cop and many other movies. This shot was taken, from the Astoria Column in which you climb up 150-200 steps for a view of Astoria and the valley to the south. The decorative, history of the Pacific NW, Lewis and Clark etc..., column cost a few bones and was worth the stop. Astoria is a resource town from my observations, fishing and logging. But with the state of the fish returns diminishing i.e. salmon runs this town will most likely be going through a transition phase to diversify there economy. Astoria's geographic location does help as it is located on Hwy 30 which connects to Hwy 101 which moves traffic up the Washington coast/and down the Oregon Coast as travelers will stop in and visit some of the local attractions as they make there way to there destinations of choice.
The Bridge crosses the mouth of Columbia River, where it meets the Pacific from its headwaters which originate in B.C.'s Lake Columbia. The Columbia is a heavily dammed river and there for it resembles a chain of lakes in some parts.

If you are interested here is a link providing the glacial and geological origins of the Columbia Watershed: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/ColumbiaPlateau/summary_columbia_plateau.html
The final destination of the trip was Cannon Beach not Astoria but we were driving through and decided to stop and check it out.

And incase you are wondering I did edit the photo made it rougher/ pixelated and adjusted some levels.

Cresent Beach

Location: Cresent Beach, South Surrey not to mixed up with Surrey Surrey.

Time of Year: Spring 2007

Tea Off

Location: The Kitchen Area

Time of Year: March 7th 2009, Late afternoon

Other Info: Learning how to use my external flash bouncing the light off the ceiling and such. I was sitting on the couch watching my 12th episode of flight of the conchord's when I saw the light streaming in through the blinds and decided today was the day to try play with that light source.

Prairie Metropolis

Location: Regina (Holiday In Express, but you probably already know that by the chandelier).

Time of Year: Spring 2007

Other Info: I could make sarcastic remarks about Saskatchewan and Regina, but I will not give in to the temptation. I found this picture from the whirlwind adventure to Regina and adjusted the levels abit to try and create a classy picture.

The Birth Place of B.C.

Location: Fort Langley; Bedford Channel

Time of Year: Fall 2007

Other Info: This photo is looking west up the channel. The original Fort, that was built, was constructed further west near Derby Reach Regional Park which is situated off the Fraser River. The Fort, that is in Fort Langley today, was moved east to the Bedford Channel area. McMillan Island protects the Bedford Channel from the Fraser River creating a calmer body of water allowing for easier transportation of goods during the fur trading years easier. With this information in hand it is probable conclusion to why the Fort was moved east to its current location.

Point A: Original location of the Fort Located off of Allard Crescent

Point B: Current Fort Location (Fort Langley)

*Bedford Channel is located North of Pt B

Picture Perfect

Location: Waikiki, Oahu Hawaii

Time of Year: August 2008

This was the last shot of our vacation eight days of Hawaii summed up in one shot.