52 New: #1 Kahekili at Sunrise

2021 has arrived, like it or not, ready or not.  After the craziness of 2020, I decided to make a new goal, (52 new goals to be exact) of trying new things.  Last year we all experienced a series of new things.  "New normals" that started with online school for our kids, variations of working from home for us parents, Zoom cocktail hours for socializing with friends, FaceTime visits with family...you get the picture.  We all had to find a way to make new things work during this new time of Covid.  Admittedly, some new things working out better than others.  I guess this is where my idea to take on a more challenging new approach to 2021 started to evolve.  I first considered going the route of several of my hiking friends and incorporating 52 New Hikes for 2021...a really great and enjoyable goal to be sure.  As I sat down to compose my "new hike" list, my mind began to wander...to food.  That's it!  "52 New Restaurants"...and then I remembered I live on an island, in the middle of the Pacific, in the middle of a global pandemic.  New restaurants aren't really a thing right now.  It slowly dawned on me that maybe I could incorporate a love of food, a love of hiking, a love of adventure, and a love of trying new things all into one succinct goal.  So for 2021 I intend to try (and blog about) 52 New Things.

January 1, 2021: Number 1 of 52: New Location for a Sunrise Hike

Sunrise hikes, especially during the winter months, are wonderful.  Wake up time is not as early since the sunrise is usually around 7:00 a.m.  Already off to a great start.  Sunrise hikes also help to start your day, your week, your month, your year off feeling gratitude, motivated and inspired.  I never regret putting on my hiking shoes in the dark and making my way up a trail with a flashlight to see the sun come up.  Luckily I have a couple of gals that enjoy this pre-dawn routine just as much as I do.  

The location for my first new thing on my list of "52 New" needed to be epic.  I was excited to get this Year of New ball rolling.  Kahekili Trail in remote Ka'a'awa was just the right mix of epic, new, and not too long of a hike in the dark.  The drive from Mililani is long by Hawai'i standards, but worth it.  A familiarity with a trail prior to tackling it for sunrise is essential, and as luck would have it, I had done a large portion of Kahekili before.  It's a gorgeous trail that has mountain and ocean views that get exponentially better the higher you climb.  I was excited to see the trail under the cover of early morning skies...and with a fresh cup of coffee in hand.  

Out of all the sunrise hikes I've done, I've never brought coffee to enjoy with the rising sun.  My friend April changed all that when she announced that she had an amazing way to brew coffee at the hike!  Sold.  She carried her Jetboil, coffee, and creamer up the side of the mountain in the dark for myself, her, and our friend Jennah to enjoy at sunrise on the first day of the new year.  Thank you!  Now I would be accomplishing two new things---coffee and a new trail at sunrise.  2021 was off to a great start.  

We made good time up the mountain to the designated sunrise lookout spot.  We had time to spare, perfect for coffee preparation.  We all brought mugs and fun accessories to ring in the New Year with caffeine and style at sunrise.  And then we hit a little snafu...our highly anticipated coffee was...slurped up by the mountain.  LOL.  An unintentional spill left us with only sips of coffee to share between the three of us...it was 2020 getting her last jab in.  However, we treated those last drips like gold and they were some of the best sips of coffee I've ever enjoyed.  All was not lost.  After the great coffee spill of 2021, we were treated to a gorgeous, memorable, and stunning sunrise, that included a rainbow over the ocean.  As we learned from all things 2020, bad things can and will happen, but if you are patient, good things are literally on the rise. Coffee crisis averted, and operation new sunrise location continued.  

Hiking isn't a new thing for me.  And sunrise hikes aren't new for me either.  But, a new location made all the difference in making the first sunrise hike of the new year, a wonderful first new item to cross off of my 52 New Things list.  Thanks April and Jennah!  

I can't wait to experience and share more new things.  One down, 51 more to go!

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up...the dawn will come." 

                                                                                                                            -Anne Lamott