Hiking with or without a camera and/or GPS

It has been awhile since a hiking blog entry. Partly due to not wanting to hike in Southern CA due to tic's and bugs. Let's not forget the poison oak, yeah, that took two weeks to heal. So, I waited until a trip to Kauai to pick up the hiking again. I did manage to work the hiking muscles and stamina by simple power walking around the neighborhood. As wimpy as that sounds I think the effort paid off.

So on this Kauai trip, Pihea, Waipoo Falls, Moalepe Road (Trail) and Sleeping Giant East were the trails.

Pihea Trail
This was the first hike of the trip. Started at the trail head at 0530, just before the sun came up. Ok, on this one, I did have the camera and GPS. I wanted to baseline the mileage to the Pihea junction and see how much further it was to the vista. Some of the going got fairly tough and the GPS had to be stowed away. Eventually, reached the vista and broke out the camera. Figuring it being first thing in the morning provides good opportunity for the early morning colors.

So took a bunch of photo's, some camera video and marked a geodetic marker that has been there since 1927. This is only my second time on Pihea so I figured to pack the camera, GPS, bottle of water and some energy bars (unneeded).

With pre-disposed knowledge that I wanted to hike without electronics, extra time was dedicated to enjoying the sights and sounds of the morning, making the effort to slow down and leave the electronics in the bag. With that, it was a good hike. Back at the trail head, there was no one present, so took the liberty to locate and find a geocache that I missed last trip. Guess, what, found it and took a picture. Also guess what, did not use the GPS because I know what area (tree) it was near.

Waipoo Falls
This was the second hike of the trip. It was a late afternoon hike with my friend Robert. Left the camera and GPS in the car. Leaving the items in the car was a good decision as it allowed me to better concentrate on the hike and absorb the Kauai forest. It was in the late afternoon so there was no morning dew on the ginger leaves which also tends to bring out the fragrance. Surprisingly, the only others we saw were two folks that had completed this portion of the trail and were making their way out.

There was about 2 hours before sunset as we started. Got to the upper / lower fall's in a short time and spend some time there enjoying Waimea Canyon. The afternoon shadows were very interesting against the far side of the canyon walls, making the steep valleys look very deep. On the way back, we did a Black Pipe Trail detour to a small bend, then turned around.

Not having to lug around a pack was nice, did not lug any water either. This was with full knowledge that the trail is well established, hiked using the buddy system, and we were not going to be out for over an hour and it was cool. Those factors removed much of the risk of hiking without water.

Noticed that the red head cardinals hang out in pairs, decided to make a mental note of that.

We ended this Kokee trip by going to the rest of the lookouts, stopping by the last lookout (on the way down) that was in total darkness, with the exception of the bright star's. Off in the lower distance a goat was heard doing his/her goat baah'ing thing.

Moalepe Trail (Kuamoo Rd [580])
A mid-morning hike with camera and GPS. But I left the GPS off. The camera stayed in the pack until the return  trip. Here is where I planned to record bird sounds. Thinking I invented a new word (birding), nope, someone figured that one out too. At the "paved" end of Kuamoo Rd [580], there is a parking area with this cool water crossing, suitable for most cars, that's right cars, if the water is not too high.

This is just about a two mile round trip so it does not take that long. Mid-morning time was an ok time to start, though, capturing bird sounds would be better earlier in the morning or later afternoon. Temperature was mid 80's and comfortable. There was a couple up at the picnic table when I arrived. I gave them the privacy of the area and instead wandered the perimeter of the vista taking photos and enjoying the scenery. Once they left, I took over the picnic table to hydrate and hang out.

A few minutes later, started back down torwards the parking lot (one mile, down hill) with camera and iPod ready to record bird sounds. Find that bird sounds is relaxing to listen to. Eventually, I'd like to be able to stream in these recorded "voice memo's" and set up a endless loop, well, maybe an hour's worth of looping audio.

Sleeping Giant East
An afternoon hike, no camera, no GPS. Since I had done both westerly ascent's, doing the Easterly ascent was the route I really wanted to try. The hiking books mentioned that it is steeper than the Westerly trail (it is) and not as long. As far as the physical part, I did find some areas tough, but overall it was very rewarding.

Having no camera or GPS,  just a water bottle, this allowed me to really focus on the hike, sights and sounds of Nonou Forest Reserve. I did miss the Cook Pine's as these tower over you in certain parts when doing the westerly ascent. Would I do the easterly ascent again, you bet.

Conclusion
I've found that hiking with a camera I am looking for that stunning digital photograph to take, so I am not in appreciation of my surroundings.

With a GPS, I find that my concentration is on the GPS signal so that I have a good track to upload into Google Maps. If overall location safety is a concern, a GPS is a must have, especially if there would be some unintended bush wacking involved.

Without electronics has the advantage of being lighter and able to move faster. Less weight (as little as my pack weights) the trail experience factor is slightly better as is the post hike pain.

Water, the water concern is that if the hike is longer than 2 hours and if it hot, bring water. Else, leaving it in the car would be fine, just do a good chug before hand - maybe two good chugs of water and let it settle a bit before starting.