Another hiking day and today it was to the Green Sand Beach at South Point, Hawaii – the most southern point of the United States.

We packed our lunch, water, tan lotion, and cameras and got an early start. The day was bright and sunny for a change and we knew that it would get hot so planned ahead.

The hike is three miles each way, but as hikes go, it was pretty easy –

dusty but easy with beautiful views along the way.

I said that the hike was easy but that was just until we got there.  

Getting down to the beach is a challenge (it’s a long, steep way down),

But we made it.

(By the way, the green sand is a result of a volcano involving olivine, also known as peridot, crystals. The olivine lava poured into the sea and exploded into olive green sand. Pretty cool, huh?)

Anyway, we swam, played in the waves, ate lunch, and played in the waves some more. It was GREAT!

After the hike back, we headed for home with a brief stop on the way at a little hidden treasure called Whittington Beach.  

 We gazed at the scenery, took a dip in the tide pools with a sea turtle,          

then headed for home.

A very fun day and we’ll sleep well tonight.