My favorite hat
On several of my (mis)adventures I passed by an island known as Chinaman's Hat, Mokoli'i in Hawaiian. I finally made it my mission to get out to the island itself and see what it was all about. The island is about one kilometer from shore, which isn't a bad swim, but I luckily arrived while the tide was low so I could wade right across to the island. When you're swimming (or walking) to an island you have some interesting currents to contend with. One of the neatest, and sometimes most annoying, are swells coming from each side of the island. One wave will push you one direction, then another will knock you the opposite way.
You can see the two different swells meeting on the left side.
After I made it to shore I hid my mask under a massive lava boulder and set to work exploring the island. I began by circumnavigating the base of the island to get the lay of the land. I found some really neat tide pools (there are no shortages of tide pools on Oahu apparently), small sea caves, cool lava formations, great views and on the backside of the island, I spotted what looked like a cave/overhang higher up on the cliffs. Satisfying my exploring needs on the lower portions of the island I began to make my ascent. After a couple scary moments stepping on loose rocks, (I finally didn't wear my slippers hiking, thank goodness) I found a decent way to the top. The view was gorgeous. I could see all up and down the coastline, from my mountains near Waimanalo in the distance, to the nearby Kualoa area. But I didn't have any time to look at pretty views. I wanted to find that cave/overhang looking feature I spotted from the shore. I began the descent down the cliff. It's what I would call a sheer cliff face with several stopping points, but luckily lava rock naturally has a decent amount of hand and foot holds so climbing isn't super difficult. I nearly missed the area I was looking for, I hadn't thought about looking for an overhang from the top. I had to climb under a small rock shelf and then I was inside what I decided to call the "Window to the World". The space was a panoramic view facing mostly west and framed by dark volcanic rock. I probably sat in there for at least a half hour. Occasionally I find myself in places that I get super good vibes from, a place that I could stay in all day. This was one of those places. All it needed was a more comfortable place to sit, sharp lava rock is far from the most pleasant thing to sit on. Now buckle up and enjoy this video, and don't worry, there are no clips of me jumping off anything.
