Very quicky, however, the trail turned ugly. Long stretches of shin-deep mud with dense jungle on either side that made avoiding the worst spots nearly impossible. Bill and Elle worked hard to keep the mud from topping their hiking boots.

Halfway in the hike to the first tunnel I noticed that the heel of Bills left boot was beginning to delaminate. It got steadily worse and for the hike out he strapped it together as best he could. It survived – barely – and there was much conversation about whether to bother bringing the boots home or bury them in Kauai. Bill finally decided to let a cobbler back home take a look before giving up on them.