Bev and I rented a jeep and did some 4-wheeling. We took a little road, paved most of the way, down to South Point -- which is the furthest south point on Big Island, and also the furthest south point in the 50 states (to say it's the furthest south point in the U.S., as many books say, is actually incorrect: I live in a territory which is part of the U.S., and I live further south than South Point. Guam, of course, is further south yet).

Anyhow, the road becomes a miserable excuse for a paved road a few miles north of here. Then the pavement stops and you're on a fairly decent dirt / gravel road until you come to the parking area just before the 4-wheel-drive / hiking trail heading east toward Olivine Beach.

Once you head onto the "trail" there are actually several (often as many as six -- maybe more) parallel sets of tracks worn by the thousands of 4-wheel drive vehicles through the recent ages which preceded you. Often the tracks are separated by high natural walls, randomly spared the erosive forces of the vehicles as the drivers, for whatever reason, stayed on the previous paths. However, sometimes the track which looks the smoothest where one starts driving on it becomes virtually unpassable, while at least one of the others remains fairly decent (or at least reasonably safe to travel with a good 4-wheeler). Usually one did not have to backtrack far to find a place where he could maneuver from his chosen track over the natural wall and onto the more pleasantly-smooth track.

You can see some examples of the parallel tracks on the hill just to your right from Bev's arm.

olivinebeach