Kahuku Shoreline (James Campbell Wildlife Refuge) - October 12, 2014 

There are some scenic walks on Oahu shorelines and this one is up at the top along with Lanikai. I haven't walked too much on the beach. I prefer not to. However, this hike has a lot to offer. Last year I did Kawela Bay, a  not so secret bay to the left of Turtle Bay. This hike is to the right of Turtle Bay, highlighted by the James Campbell Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is home to a family of Nene Goose, the only Nene on the island of Oahu. 

Today we hoped to find the Nene. Sensei put together this hike because Young Kumu was coming back from the mainland for one week and said she can only hike on a Sunday. We spent the week trying to get all OAG's to come, but in the end, Young Kumu bailed so we just had fun without her. We were also projected to have our Post Hike Meal at Tita's Grill where I was going to pound The Pounder ~ a massive burger almost a foot tall in height, 6 pieces of bacon, 4 cheeses, choke sauce, onion rings, and of course one pound of meat. Joining the hike today was Sensei, E, Proo, Burs, DJ, & Janice ~ 7 of 10 OAG's. 

We met at Turtle Bay Resort at 8:00am, and then DJ drove us to the Kahuku Golf Course. We started on a path that took us to a cemetery, it was in the middle of nowhere. After the cemetery, we went to the beach. As you can see the beach is very scenic and offers a great view of the shoreline. The wildlife refuge is fenced up, but we could see inside of the refuge somewhat. The wildlife refuge is huge and vast. I knew we would have a hard time finding the Nene's. 

As we walked along the beach, E was near the preserve taking pictures of some native birds such as a bristle-thighed curlew which has a long ass beak. I was amazed at the beautiful pictures that were coming out on my DSLR. Eventually we hit a stream. There appeared to be no way to cross without getting wet, so I took off my socks and crossed the shallow stream. This stream was awesome and is up there in beautiful places on the island. It seems like we were in another place.

We continued on the beach for another hour before finding a pillbox to sit on. We had a good conversation about many things. The OAG+ is a great group. The waves were calming, it was such a relaxing day. As we neared the point, we decided to hurry up and finish the hike back to Turtle Bay.  The total hike was 6 miles, a semi long hike on a hot day.

After we finished, the PHM was at Tita's Grill. I dropped DJ and Sensei off to pick up DJ's truck and we went to Tita's Grill. I was supposed to eat the pounder, but the fryer was out of order so they couldn't make onion rings. I decided to eat the mini pounder which was still good, but easy to eat. We talked for a long time. So great to talk with OAG's.