This exercise already paid off big time: It turns out one of the most popular ways of using the archive was to simply run a slide show that displayed all archived photos (about 15,000 of them) in random order. During a particularly long run, I noticed that some of the photos had discolored stripes! When I interrupted the slide show and looked at the photos individually, I watched in horror how files would simply disappear! Very distraught, I unmounted the archive, switched off the disk shelf, and tried to figure out what to do next. After an hour or so of great upset I restarted the disk shelf and mounted it again. To my great relief, all photos looked normal, and the files that had previously disappeared were back again. I suspect it was a disk controller problem that only occurred after prolonged usage — maybe due to overheating. This would also explain why the corruption didn’t break the mirror, since I had connected the mirrored pair of disks to the same controller. As long as I didn’t let the disk shelf run too long, I seem to be fine. Of course, for the long term this was unacceptable. I also started to have my doubts whether my soft raid setup (using Apple’s software) would notify me if one of the disks goes bad. Recent research results show that the interconnect (controller and firewire cards in my case) is a dominant source of corruption (see here), and that mirroring (or any other RAID-based checksumming) is not enough to protect against important sources of data corruption (see here).

So last January I finally found a product that inspired confidence in me: Drobo. While probably not incorporating the latest research results (although I did send them pointers to the above papers — so maybe soon) it does put a lot of emphasis on expandability and — most importantly — immediate notification when something goes wrong. My tests confirmed that bright LEDs would quickly tell me which drive to replace, and long durations of using the archive did not introduce corruption. As a nice plus: the archive is now a lot more quiet — so I could run scrubbing programs on it without waking up any guests who usually get to sleep in our living room.

This year I was decidedly in less good shape and it was the first 7-day hike instead of our usual 5-day adventures. But I survived well and the experience was well worth it. Jeff put up my pictures and even placed some of them on a Google Map Route.

On that note we say Good Bye to the beautiful northern coast of Kaua’i and head south to Po’ipū (with a stop at Hilo Hattie in Lihue). The sea is a lot calmer at the south coast and we spend an hour or so at the Poipu Beach Park. We see a Hawaiian Monk Seal resting on the otherwise pretty busy beach. But someone has put a “crime scene” fence around the seal and put up a sign telling about the fact that monk seals are on the endangered species list and need to be left alone. The water is very clear (Surrounded by Fish Movie, Needle Fish Movie) and we see a variety of sea urchins (movie) and even a nudibranch.

To celebrate New Year’s Eve Robin signed up her family for another Luau at the Hyatt — but for us there is just enough time left for a quick dinner at the Hyatt’s buffet (the large chocolate fountain impressed me most) before we have to go to the airport.

As our plane flies over Honolulu we watch the fireworks go off everywhere. New Year’s Day, 6AM we are back in San Francisco. What a great vacation — inspired by Joe and Nan’s trip to a wedding in Hawai’i and Wayne and Deborah’s excellent recommendations. Thank you!

At Hanakapi’ai Beach I have the opportunity to hike for another two miles up the Hanakapi’ai creek to the waterfall. But I am running out of time and opt instead to hike a mile further to the Kalalau lookout. This route also promises to be a good escape from the crowds since almost everyone else heads for the waterfalls or stays at the beach. First I can’t find the continuation of the trail so I ask a hippie girl who is trying to sell small leather pouches. Her instructions lead me to a disgusting above-ground pit toilet whose “pit level” is surrounded by a mountain of trash. Convinced that she pulled my leg I’m about to turn arond when I find a much narrower trail heading up the hill. The trail switchbacks and quickly gains altitude and offers good views on the beach I leave behind. I pass a waterfall with an almost perfectly shaped tub in front of it. Some sections of the trail get really narrow and it is really easy to slip off the trail into a mat of grass and plants that provides only weak protection from falling into a deadly mixture of cliff, reef, and a treacherous surf hundreds feet below.

The lookout is breathtakingly beautiful: the trail passes between two towers and gives way to a sweeping view of a large valley surrounded by the sharp-edged, green hills that are so characteristic of the Na Pali coast. I discover that I can carefully go around the tower on the Pacific side and have a magnificent view onto the ocean and a good portion of the Na Pali coast line in each direction. I spend about half an hour there spotting whales and taking way too many pictures.

Back at the Hanakapi’ai beach I watch the surf creating very strange and almost nightmarishly tall wave formation. Both sides of the beach show multiple warning signs for rip tides, strong currents, and even a score board of people’s lifes claimed by this beach. The beach is not protected by an expansive reef as in so many other places around the island so the surf comes very close. There is a rock ledge on each side of the beach that acts as a 30-degree reflector of waves. When a reflected wave meets an oncoming breaking wave the intersection of those waves temporarily prevents the wave to break and instead sends a huge amount of water directly upwards. This creates very bizarre mohawk-like shapes that glisten green against the afternoon sun.

I make it back to the trailhead at the time Zulah had agreed to pick me up. Like everyone else emerging from the trail I was covered in mud. We celebrate our last evening at the north shore with a great dinner at Robin and Eric’s place which includes incredibly good tasting grilled fish (Ono and Opah) that they had bought from the Hanalei fish market earlier.

In the afternoon we meet up with Robin and visit the Limahuli Garden. It is truly the most beautiful botanical garden I’ve ever seen. The entrance fee of $15 seems steep but it is definitely worth it, especially since it includes a booklet of the 35 major exhibits. It is very fun to read right there and then about the many uses of the exhibited plants, and how they connect to the history, myths, and rituals of the Limahuli valley. The garden also offers spectacular views onto the ocean with its huge waves (the big wave warning is still on). Zulah and Robin have to honk the car and call my name to pull me out of my entranced state of beauty appreciation. Definitely a place to visit again.

The Hanalei Colony Resort is right at the sea. Robin and Eric received a note today that they should shut the windows before leaving the house and never turn their back to the ocean when walking along the beach. While the waves are big they seem to break in a safe distance. But freak swells do occur and kill people who don’t look out for them. This is fodder for nightmares: either the big shadow of a huge wave approaching the house before crushing onto it, or the surge of water that turns the living room window into a leaky aquarium.

Before dinner we play a few rounds Bocce (provided by Marley) with the occasional assistance of two neighborhood dogs who dutifully catch some of the Bocce balls and bring them back. We spend the night listening and discussing 70s and 80s music we find out Eric’s ipod. We also talk about electronic music, in particular Tangerine Dream (apparently well-known in the US) and Klaus Schulze (less well-known here).

After enjoying the overwhelming beauty of the canyon at the lookout (movie) we head over to the Koke’e State Park. The main attractions here are the Kalalau Outlook and the Alakai Swamp. The swamp is a haven for rare indigenous plants and birds. But first we stop by at the museum which provides us with maps and information about the current trail conditions. Here we find out that the best time for the Kalalau Outlook is in the morning, and that the Mohihi Road — a hilly dirt road that leads to the Alakai Swamp Trail and the Kawaikoi Stream Trail is only safely passable up to “slippery slope” shortly after the trail head at the eastern end of Berry Flats Trail. Walking the slippery slope and the loop over Alakai Swamp Trail and back on Pihea Trail is about seven miles.

We head over to the Kalalau Lookout which offers a stunning view of part of the Na Pali coast (which today is pummeled by huge waves). The road to the Pihea trail head east of the lookout is closed so we have to walk. Zulah and I both very much dislike walking on asphalt — but we finally make it to Pihea. I discover a few goats at the extremely steep cliff below us.

After a about a mile into Pihea the wind and the fog (movie) is really getting to Zulah and we decide to turn around and try out trails in the swamp. Zulah is not feeling like hiking at all, so she drops me off just above the “slippery slope” if Mohihi Road. Walking the road to the trailhead takes longer than expected and so I only get to see a little bit of the southern end of the Pihea trail. There are lots of cherry-like fruits on the ground but they seem to have multiple seeds. There is also plenty of evidence for pigs — they have been literally ploughing the ground at various parts of the trail. On the way back I meet a German couple at the Alakai Picnic Area, and I manage to catch a ride with a couple from Los Gatos back to the top of the “slippery slope” where is Zulah has been waiting for 30 minutes.

I am dead-tired by the time we arrive at home. I don’t know how I manage to write this blog entry, especially since I had to rewrite half of it after a Firefox crash.