The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship

The following post includes a few pics my first solo backpacking trip in 2008. I chose the Big Island of Hawaii for my adventure, mainly to climb a snow-capped 14er in January, and to hopefully see some rolling lava. Like so many tourists before and after me, I became obsessed with the islands - I returned in 2009 with my fiance to get married, and again in 2010 to make a life there. My feelings about Hawaii now are complicated and bittersweet, but I still hold my first experiences there as precious as the day Dr B and I got married on top of Mauna Kea and spent our wedding night in a tent in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
~October, 2011