A Real Beach Adventure

When you live on an island, going to the beach is easy enough. It's just a matter of walking in a straight line until you hit water.

But we aren't always in the right mood for easy. We decided we wanted more of an adventure in going to the beach, so we loaded up a couple backpacks with water bottles and delicious snacks, and headed out to a remote beach, only accessible either via a hike down rough trails, or a boat ride.

I don't think that ever in my life I've actually hiked to this beach and back, usually I've taken a boat on the way there or back--the hike itself isn't particularly long, it's just over 3 km, and took the 6 of us about an hour and 20 minutes to traverse.

But this is no Mammoth Cave National Park trail (for some reason, that's the park that always comes to mind when I think of smooth, well-maintained trails). I found it challenging!

Let's play--"Spot the Trail!"

Personally, I'm glad that they choose to keep the trail open even though so many of the bridges and stairs are falling apart, instead of closing it indefinitely 'for maintenance'...but this isn't a trail I'd recommend for any but adult-sized people in relatively good shape. For this reason we left all the littles home with Mama and only 6 of us tackled this adventure.

The saddest sight we saw was a dead baby dolphin on the beach--but besides that, we enjoyed our little beach picnic and explored the beautiful seashore and little coves along the shoreline with all the energy we could muster after our long hike!

 Angel and Rebekah decided that since there was a gigantic rock in the middle of the beach, they had to figure out how to climb on top of it. The rest of us shouted "No! Don't do it! It's not safe!" and snapped pictures simultaneously (possibly contradicting ourselves) as they tried multiple methods of rock climbing. I was quite skeptical that they'd both make it to the top, but in the end, a combination of strategies worked: Angel boosted Rebekah up high enough that she could scramble to the top, and then Angel took a running start, jumped onto the rock, and Rebekah leaned over and grabbed his hand so that he could make it all the way up.

Those of us not so fearless were impressed with their feat.

Rebekah is the tallest and strongest of all the girls in my family, and Angel has never met a rock he didn't want to stand on top of, so they were the perfect pair to attempt this daring feat of bravery.

*Warning: Do not try at home, if your home happens to contain gigantic barnacle-covered rocks. Instead, invite me over for dinner, because I want to see a home like that!