Hike To Chinaman's Hat (pics)

Every year my HIANG commander likes to get some folks together for a hike up Chinaman's Hat, also known as Mokolii Island. Some believe it's the remnants of a giant mo'o (lizard god).
But anyway...Mom and I showed up with no expectations, except that for some reason we thought we would get over to the island via a boat. Well, we were wrong! We walked across coral to the island-see photos! What an experience! Once we got to the island we started a steep climb to the top-which is 206 ft. I made it almost to the top but stopped short when it went from an steep hike up a hill to rock climbing. Maybe next year I'll make it to the top. Once we slowly made it back to the bottom, we made a trek around the island over volcanic rock to the back side of the island where there was a cool little cove. There were little tide pools with little fishes hanging out in them waiting for high tide. It was really neat.
Once we made the mecca back to mainland we had lunch and then Mom and I did some sun bathing and then headed home.
It was a really neat experience!