Dawn on Friday, December 26, 2025

Given how long and busy yesterday was, today we were off to a slow start. After finishing morning schools and chores, Eric really wanted to go on a family snorkeling trip. Christi didn’t feel like she was up for an intensive swim and Keith wanted to hang out with his friends. Keith wound up going tubing with some of the other families, then the kids played on the beach near the anchorage. 

Meanwhile, Eric and Christi agreed to go on what they’d been told was an easy hike to a viewpoint called Boo Boo Hill. They took the dinghy to the dock at the ranger station, then followed the path from the ranger station to the beach. Not far past the sperm whale skeleton, they saw the trail head that led inland.

After a short walk along eroded limestone and scrubby brush in what looked like a flood plain, they came to Banshee Creek.

Keith had complained yesterday about how high the water had been in the creek when they did the scavenger hunt — he’d gotten pretty wet crossing the creek. So Christi and Eric were surprised to see that the water barely even covered their ankles — clearly, the water levels changed dramatically during the tide cycle. .

Here was the view of The Horseshoe from the creek.

The trail continued on the other side of the creek, where the foliage was notably larger, lusher and denser.

As promised, it was a relatively short walk to the peninsula that separated The Horseshoe from the rest of the lagoon.

The Horseshoe

The lagoon side

There was a blowhole on the peninsula, but since seas were calm, it wasn’t doing a whole lot.

They headed up to the viewpoint, which from the distance looked like a short, gentle, easy hike.

While it certainly was not a difficult hike, it was similar to the Davis Ruins hike in that the ground was uneven and jagged and the incline was steeper than anticipated. At the top was a giant pile of debris.

Most of the lumber had boat names written on it. Christi and Eric guessed that once upon a time there had been a structure of some sort that, like the Cruiser’s Beach at Big Major, had been decorated with signs with boat names… and then something happened to the structure. It appeared that now cruisers just found unadorned boards, painted their boat names on them, then threw their signs into the pile.

There was a bench where they sat and enjoyed the beautiful 360-degree view. Behind Eric was the anchorage Kosmos was in.

Behind Christi was Banshee Creek and The Horseshoe.

Another shot of The Horseshoe

Back at Kosmos, Eric and Christi had a low key evening. The ranger had sent us home with some leftovers, and since Christi was feeling low on energy, she was grateful that she didn’t have to cook.

After the beach, Keith came back to Kosmos for dinner, then was out the door again soon after earring. This time he went to yet another boat for an evening of games. Keith was having the time of his life with all the other families.