Another Misadventure, of the Sea Urchin variety

I'm sure most of you are aware of this incident by now, if you've seen the pictures on Facebook that Andy P. posted. I thought that I would tell the story from the trailhead, and I'll also mention that I'm nearly walking normally now and the sea urchin spines are almost gone (I think).

The first photo of the weekend, taken on November 6th. The original plan was to hike 6 miles to Apua Point (the turtle beach that I visited earlier this summer), camp there one night, and then continue through Keauhou beach to camp at Halape beach the second night. We're all excited to start the long, flat trail along the southern coastline.

Apua Point at sunset is a beautiful cove. There was a near-cloudless sky with plenty of dramatic shooting stars.

Along the trail from Apua to Keauhou, Katie and I stopped along the way to check out some potential 'shatter rings' for Katie's supervisor.

We finally made it to Keauhou and found the other members of our group. Keauhou is a pretty nice beach, secluded with nice soft sand. According to some people, it's the best snorkeling spot on the island, so of course I was tempted...Unfortunately, the 'best' spot is where the larger waves are.

Snorkeling with Katie! There were a few cool fish, but we were getting pushed offshore by the waves so decided to head in...

The two bobbing heads on the left are us, and we were heading straight for those rocks on the shore when the waves got rougher and pushed us onto them. I was dragged across a sea urchin and about a dozen spines punctured my foot. I also collected several scrapes on both legs and feet from the rocks. Luckily, we had several first aid kits so we patched it up as best we could.

There wasn't really a feasible way for me to reach Halape, so the options were to hike up the pali, or go back the way we came along the coast. Although the coastal trail was longer, it seemed the better option, so Dave B. was a gentleman and walked out the 9 miles with Katie and I back to the car. When I got back to the house, I soaked my foot in vinegar and hot water, and it looked like this:

Gross, right? I think the purple color comes from the venom or dye that was injected by the spines. It faded after a few days. No worries, I'm walking okay, and I'll probably try to get to Halape again during one of my remaining weekends...