Tantalus

Did the Tantalus/Round Top run. Beautiful scenery. Thank goodness for granny gears.

Here's the route I took.



I'd heard it always rains up in the mountains and when I started out it looked like today would be no exception. Weather held out for me though. Just a couple of light showers towards the middle of my trek, much appreciated by that time.

If you're heading up I recommend going up Round Top and back down Tantalus as I did. Roads seemed smoother on the Tantalus side so its nicer when going fast on the way down. Round Top has better photo ops too so it provides plenty of excuses to stop and rest.

Near the top of the first ridge you'll find Puu Ualaokua Park (marker 'B' on the route map). Park entrance is much steeper than the rest of the ride but the views are worth it.




After enjoying the sights, continued on. Reached the crest (!!) and started on back down... Or so I thought. Once you go past a few houses the road turns a corner and starts rising again. That part sucked.


Eventually reached the last crest and started down the Tantalus side. Lots of pretty houses around. Quite a few shacks too. Definitely didn't seem like everybody up there was loaded. Did see a fair share of Mercedes and one Corvette. Also almost got run over by a cop car. Guess somebody's house alarm went off. I'm sure the really expensive places are off the private little side roads scattered about.

Most of what you see on the Tantalus side is green. Everything is green. If I had to climb anymore I probably would have been too. As it was I was very happy to be heading back down.




Got some good shots of the Punchbowl and the Harbor. It was getting a bit hazy but got a nice one of the whole Waikiki area.

After my ride I could only think of one thing, Thank goodness for Chinese buffets...