Saturday morning is was up and at ’em for another Echotour, this time a hike to the top of Diamond Head.

As might be expected, we began our trek on the floor of the crater.  What struck me was how arid this location was.  The day before maybe 10 miles away I had been hiking through tropical terrain.

Did I mention this was a pretty popular tour?

Maybe you can make out the early 20th century fortifications.  These were designed to protect the Oahu from a southern seaborne attack…

A vista

You can see the walls of the volcano cone, right?

Winding the way up to the mountain top…

Looking out at the wide Pacific…

An operational lighthouse keeps the ships off the shallow reefs surrounding Oahu.

Looking westward…

Waikiki from the summit of Diamond Head.

A closer look at the old defenses…

“Yo, the attack will come from over there…and it won’t be by ship!”  Advice comes easy with 20-20 hindsight…

This fire control operations center is built 3 stories into the mountain.  It didn’t help much on that day of infamy, but still quite impressive.  The ol’ Walrus had a heck of time crawling in and out of the damn thing though…

Headin’ back down the mountain.  Watch your step!

Alright, tomorrow we are gonna get out of town and journey around the island of Oahu.  See you then!