Oahu Ghost Stories

Kim Steutermann Rogers
Destination: Oahu/Waikiki
Article Source: Outrigger

Hawaii is no stranger to the paranormal. Accounts of a hitchhiking Pele are not unusual. Neither are stories of night marchers. Boulders that move on their own. Sounds of singing in the night. Balls of fire. And ghosts, well, they’re almost as prolific as chickens on Kauai. Uncle Joe Espinda, Jr., leads a tour called Orbs of Oahu for Oahu Ghost Tours, and he believes it all. Absolutely every word. Read More

Oahu: Urban Energy to Amazing Natural Wonders

Dennis Rockney
Destination: Oahu/Waikiki
Article Source: Outrigger

Adventure awaits you on Hawaii's most popular island and we've got the proof (in 3 fun minutes). See for yourself.

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How Well Do You Know Diamond Head?

Destination: Oahu/Waikiki
Article Source: Outrigger

You can see it from practically any spot on Waikiki Beach.  It even slips into view between buildings as you maneuver the maze of streets in Waikiki.  And, yet, how much do you know about this famous landmark? Read More

Hiking the Hills--and Mountains and Giants--of Hawaii

Destination: Hawaiian Islands
Article Source: Outrigger

That's the thing about hiking in Hawaii. There's hiking along coastlines. There's hiking in urban settings. And, of course, there are hiking trails on mountain ridges, along cliffsides, and through canyons and valleys. As well, there is hiking with giants and kings and demi-gods. There's even a hike through the highest-elevation swamp in the world. Talk about variety. Read More

The Stories of Makapuu Point Lighthouse Trail

Kim Steutermann Rogers
Destination: Oahu
Article Source: Blog Post

But in addition to stats and photographs, the paved hiking trail that switchbacks up Makapuu in one big “z” holds stories. Like the one about the distinctive opening of Koko Crater, known as Kohelepelepe, which translates to English as “traveling vagina.” The story goes that the clever goddess Kapo exposed her private bits in order to save her sister Pele from the clutches of Kamapuaa, the pig god. Is anyone surprised that this diversion tactic worked? To celebrate, Kapo left her mark—the rocky cliff in the shape of, well, you get the idea.

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40th Annual Honolulu Marathon Moments

Kim Steutermann Rogers
Destination: Oahu
Article Source: Blog Post

The first time tears pooled in the corners of my eyes was at the intersection of Ala Moana Boulevard and Piikoi. The skies had just darkened again after a round of fireworks lit up the pre-dawn Waikiki morning to celebrate the start of the 40th Honolulu Marathon.  Big, burly guys with bullhorns hollared for bystanders to clear the road because the first racers were rolling through downtown Honolulu and about to round the corner. And I do mean rolling. A phalanx of bicyclists escorted the wheelchair racers through the 26.2-mile course. The crowd responded with cheers, a kind of verbal fist bump, and I teared up as a blur of wheels whizzed past me. Read More

Music on the Mountain

Kim Steutermann Rogers
Destination: Oahu
Article Source: Blog Post

It was only when the faint drone of a plane’s engines tapped the edges of my serenity that I realized how quiet this trail was. Just 10 miles and 20 minutes from the heart of Waikiki, Kuliouou Ridge Trail starts at the dead-end of a suburban road in Hawaii Kai. Within a half-mile on the rocky, tree-lined and switch-backing trail, I’d left the one-way streets, stoplights and pedestrian crosswalks behind. Far behind. Read More

A Spot of Time on Manoa Cliff Trail

Kim Steutermann Rogers
Destination: Oahu
Article Source: Blog Post

I sat in the cozy Protea Café awaiting a salad--pear and (go light on the) gorgonzola salad after a morning switch-backing Round Top Drive and hiking Manoa Cliff Trail atop Mt. Tantalus just outside Waikiki. It was another inspiring iPhone and Olloclip photography outing—an artist’s date, as Julia Cameron would call it--as well as time for contemplation. It took a mere 15 minutes to get to Mt. Tantalus from Waikiki. But the psychological distance is much greater than that.

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World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument

Kim Steutermann Rogers
Destination: Oahu
Article Source: Blog Post

Last week, on a day when rain fell heavy from the sky, I explored the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. You might know the place as, simply, “Pearl Harbor,” where the USS Arizona Memorial resides over a warship that sank in less than nine minutes on December 7, 1941, a sunny day when what fell from the sky were bombs. One such explosive--a 1,760-pound armor-piercing bomb--blasted through the deck of the USS Arizona and entombed a crew of 1,177 men. The ship burned for three days afterward. It sits today where it came to rest 70 years ago. Read More

A Tour of Molokai's Kalaupapa Peninsula

Kim Steutermann Rogers
Destination: Oahu
Article Source: Blog Post

Travel is good for reading. I am finishing Gavan Daws book Holy Man: Father Damien of Molokai, which I started before my weekend trip to the sliver of an island that sits across the channel off Oahu’s southeastern shores called Molokai. I review my notes and photos from our tour of Kalaupapa, the pancake flat peninsula at the base of 2,000-foot sea cliffs along the north shore of Molokai. And I think about two men and a woman. Read More