June 22, 2013 A non-photographer's photo journal - Hoomaluhia Camping Day 1

My little tribe was so happy to finally go for a weekend camping trip.  It had been a while since we packed up and camped out so we all were a little nervous and excited.  We also never been "mountain camping", I mean we live in Hawaii so when we hear camping we think "at the beach", but this place is so beautiful and special to my family.  So here is day one of us camping at Hoomaluhia State park. Set up was kinda crazy.  We had to go on Friday after everyone finished work at 5:00 but be in the gate by 6:30 when they close.  We all just made it...all sixteen of us...in the rain.  After everything got set up, dinner was eaten and a camp fire lit we all had a good nights rest ready for a beautiful morning.  And it was a beautiful morning.   This is what we saw when we woke in the morning. The Koolau maintains lit up by the golden morning sunlight.

 It then drizzled a little which made for the brightest rainbow I've ever seen.  It was amazing.

 The nice cool weather made for a lovely time to take a stroll around the camp site.  So many beautiful plants to see.  Many plants are marked with name plates which is pretty awesome.
Here's a Hala Tree and a wild Orchid growing in ferns.

Then breakfast

 We had to do something with the kiddos, so a hike down to the lake was in order.

 

Everyone (well the kids anyways) needed a "hiking stick".

I have know idea why because it was more of a walk then a hike.

 The sun was out but the air was cool.  The trail was well kept and the plants were green.  Then when came around a corner and down a hill to see this amazing sight.
The lake

We stayed a bit to explore.

 That was pretty much day one.  Nice and relaxing up until after the walk.  It was a big BMX race day so we drove back into town, picked up all the race gear, rip it up at the track, then dropped all the gear off at home and booked it back to the camp site.
Never a dull moment with us!