Sound of Music

With pounding downpour greeting us first thing in the morning, it is a bit shaky whether anyone would show up for our hike this morning. With our usual motto of "come rain or shine, we hike forward and onward" we head to our rendezvous at the Coral Isle Condo. At 6 a.m., the rain has stopped, and seven of us are ready to circle the base of Mt. Tapochau: Chops, CB, Brian, Thor, Sparky, CC, Scout and Boy, who was recently lost, but very fortunately found. 

Thor and Brian leading the way, followed by Boy, Scout, Sparky, CB, and Chops. The road starts out slightly on an incline.

Soon the gentle incline turns seriously steep. Sparky and Scout get ahead, while Thor and Chops determinedly move on without stopping.

Twenty five minutes later we arrive at the first vantage point over LauLau Bay and Naftan Point. Time for photo taking.

A clear view of LauLau Bay and LauLau Golf Course.

The Sound of Music trail cleared by Cycling Federation and Triathlon Federation is wonderful. We sure enjoy being able to take a leisurely stroll in this section. Chops heartily agrees.

A disturbing sight greets us as we reach the second meadow. The giant four-wheeler monster trucks have gouged out the grass, scarring the previously beautiful meadow.

We meander through a richly full forest located between the two meadows. Sparky, Chops, Thor and Brian pose for a pic.

Coming out of the forest, we continue up to the ridge for a look over the other side. On the way, we notice this rock that looks interesting. Brian and CB get a closer look.

From the ridge we have a good look at Susupe, with 360 on the far left, Saipan World Resort and Kanoa Hotel in the middle, and Ada Gym on the far right.

Rainbow appearing on the horizon.

We snack on the ridge, overlooking Susupe. This is actually our group picture: Thor, Sparky, Chops, CB, Scout, Boy, and Brian, sans CC.

Continuing our circle, we hike past the first segment of muddy puddles (created by the monster trucks), and the birds nests trail. This chain appears to be an old gate post.

The large bamboo forest is displaying some very impressive fallen "soldiers" from the last storm, looking like a large tic-tac-toe game board. The ground is completely covered by a thick carpet of brown bamboo leaves.

A surprised find of a keyboard wedged between these bamboos. 

Thor, Sparky, Brian, and Scout detour around the big puddle.

This sharp curve has red tape as a warning sign. Most probably to keep the bikers from falling off.

Another big puddle. The last one.

A downhill trek to end the hike.  

The hike seems a lot longer than the 4.88 miles on the RunKeeper. It does give us a good training for uphill climbing. Although we have forgotten to take a group photo, the hike is definitely a five sneakers...