Waimanu

Buddy and I just returned from our butt-kicking backpacking trip into Waimanu. For those of you who don't know, look it up, this is a serious trip and the hike is rated difficult.....I just wanted you all to know how awesome we are! The plan was to hike in one day, explore the valley the next and then hike out on the third day....which means we needed to take stuff to survive.....lots and lots of stuff! Buddy's pack ended up weighing 19 pounds and mine was thirty (next time I'm forgoing all clothes and bringing the weight down to a much more tolerable 29 pounds).

Thankfully Buddy looks cute in his pack, which totally makes up for the weight! The hike up was strenuous to say the least, since you are basically climbing up the side of a valley, then you go up and down through multiple valleys until you reach Waimanu.....

Thankfully, they had signs to warn you....

And encourage you every few miles that you were almost there....

There was even a shelter along the way....

When we got there I had to kick a group of college kids out of our reserved camping spot, because seriously, who wouldn't want this view....

Plus, that river behind it was perfect for hours and hours of this....

(That would be throwing rocks.....which happened basically nonstop for the first 5 hours after arrival....pretty certain there are no rocks on that riverbank anymore).

Buddy was sure to pack in his hammock....

and his good attitude....

But, he usually packs that everywhere he goes! I love this boy so stinking much! Unfortunately it rained pretty much the entire time we were there and my phone got wet and stopped working so I couldn't take any pictures after the first night....thankfully, I was able to snap a few pictures of my gnarly toes and the inevitable fate of my toenails that are about to fall off....but I'm trying to keep my blog family friendly, so I'll save those pictures and send them to Shane when he makes me mad so I can exact my revenge!!! Hahahahahaha! At one point the whole group of us were headed to the huge waterfall in the back. Of course that was the same point that my phone started acting up so Buddy and I lagged behind a little too long and got separated from the group and couldn't find the trail anymore. Buddy, the fantastic scout, was sure to tell me it was unsafe to just be walking willy nilly if we couldn't find the trail, so we went back towards camp. Fantastically, we decided to walk out to the green/black sand beach and it was AWESOME!!!!! It was, of course, raining so the ocean was dark and angry looking and with the black sand it was quite ominous looking. We played and played, the whole while I was waiting for the sharks to come and gobble us up. Sadly, I wish my phone worked so I could take pictures of the sand for Buddy to remember! That was his favorite part of the beach. When you stepped in you sunk at least 6 inches, which was really cool, we had running and jumping competitions on the beach to see who could make the deepest sink hole.....he won! Anyway, we're back and I couldn't be prouder of my boy. He didn't utter a negative word the entire time.....he did emit a negative stench  though that even the river couldn't wash away!! Haha! In other news, Buddy's trying out a new look for church....

I think this look will go over well! So all in all a very super fantastic, ready to go again....but maybe not for a few more weeks, day!