The end of January the retirement roadshow moved from Colorado to Kona, HI, for a week.
We awoke the next day with only thoughts of getting back into the running on the Dash...you betcha. No, the team decided after a day soaking in the sun and tasting the local barley pops, another rest day was in order.
The warm, humid weather we faced getting off the plane was in sharp contrast to the day before, where we were doing on-mountain avalanche training at Monarch Pass.
The objective for the trip was to do a shorter version of the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. In our case it was going to be from the south side of the island, to the north end. We had the whole week to accomplish the feat.
We started the event by first provisioning at Costco, which was made easier by our traveling companions, Bill and Cathy from Buurmidji, MN. Cathy brought this amazing clown car of a suitcase that she kept pulling things out of from food to coolers.
Also they had the Costco membership.
On the way to provision we also rolled into Aloha Woods, where I picked up some Chocolate Heart, Koa and Macadamian wood to feed my current OCD phase around bottle openers. This of course required the purchase of another suitcase to get the lumber back to Colorado.
After the torture of provisioning, we could not start the Dash. We spent the rest of the day lounging by the pool and since we didn't want to start in the dark, the start time of the Dash was put off until the next day.
Our starting point for the Dash would be South Point, the most southerly spot in the U.S.A. After a bright and early start (we were still on Central and Mountain Time), we got there a little before 11AM for the official start. There were no starting flags or cannon shots, since we were going low key to avoid attracting the attention of anyone wishing to derail our attempt at the establishing the Big Island Dash record.
We simple took a picture.
Then the team, with the clock now ticking, decided a hike to a noted Green Sand Beach was in order. We anticipated doing this pretty quickly, so it shouldn't hurt our overall time too much...and what the heck we were here, it was here, so why not.
About four hours later we made it back to the car. The beach turned out to be a 6.39 mile round trip hike on volcanic rocks and sand. It always seemed to be over the next ridge.
We jumped back into the magical Mazda and off we went. Actually, we kinda slumped into the car and decided to have a picnic lunch in the AC it provided. But by mid-afternoon we were on our way north.
Late afternoon brought us back to the Kona area and we had gone about 60 miles in a couple of hours. Long, traffic free stretches of road on which to open up the Magic Mazda did not seem to be happening. We decided to call it a day, and retire to the condo instead of continuing in the dark and possibly hitting a wild goat or donkey, on what we anticipated to be a fast transit across the lava field north of Kailua.
After waking the next day, and realizing we may have over done it yesterday, we decided to take a Bye Day (just like the NFL) and went to a beach that Bill-Our-Leader had picked out. It would also allow us to scout the area just north of Kona for the next leg of the Dash.
Our overall elapse time was suffering a little bit as we were now 48 hours into the Dash and only covered about 60 miles, but it was felt we could make it up at the end.
The pressure of the Dash was starting to weight on the team. In order to put us in the right frame of mind we went on a tour and beer tasting at Kona Brewing. This went well! We were especially fascinated by their rodent control management system, which seemed to be everywhere at once. Here in Colorado we would have used a cat, but they had a real machine, an Indian Mongoose running around. I have since looked into getting a breeding pair for Pinon Rock, but alas they cannot be brought into the US (Other then zoos) as they can be detrimental to cat union, and tend to decimate the local critter populations.
Even the NFL teams take a whole week, so what would another day mean in the scope of things.
We went looking for volcano's and beaches with different color sands and since we knew the way south we ended up backtracking the only progress made so far on the Dash...back to South Point and points east.
We did though scout an alternative route on the way back, through Hilo and the Saddleback for our return once we make to the North Headlands of the island, but it too proved for naught.
At the end of this bushwhacking through Hilo rush hour, road construction and the abdication of our leader (Bill), we decided to re-group back at the condo. The lack of a clear leader and chain of command would prove to be challenging in the days ahead.
We were now 72 hours into the dash and have gone only 60 net miles, an average of only .833 miles per hour. The team knew we were way off the bubble, but hey tomorrow is another day.
After the trials and tribulations of the day before the now leader-less team decided another day at the beach was order. We took another rest day to contemplate...well things.
For those keeping score at home we were now 96 hours into the Dash, and made only 60 miles toward our goal...boy, do we suck at this Dash thing.
So here we are with only two days left to complete the journey and what does the leader-less team decide to do...you got it, lets take another rest day to recharge for what would be our final push to gain the finish before getting back to the airport on Sunday night for the red-eyes home.
As the team seems want to do on rest days...we went to the beach. Here we discovered some unusual petroglyph's that will be covered in a subsequent post, due to their importance.
Score: 120 hours - 60 miles.
So it is now our last day on the island, the team hit the road bright and early, at the crack of noon.
Our travel up the previous scouted route (it has now been scouted 3 times, while on the way to our favorite beach) went uneventfully, right up to the point a detour to Waimea was decided upon by the leader-less team. And a stop for lunch. And to watch the first quarter of the Superbowl. This detour cost us the most direct route to the finish line, we now had to transit an up-mountain area to get back on course.
I won't keep you in suspense, we did make it to the finish line, as this picture of the headlands can attest. It was a journey with many different turns to it, especially since we were leader-less.
The final finishing time was just under 144 hours to cover approximated 120 net miles for an average speed of .833 MPH. We never made up our time deficit from the first day, but the team endeavored to finish no matter the obstacle.
We were able to limp back to the airport with our heads held high...we had finished!
On to the next adventure.
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