Kauai

View of Lanai, Kauai from the airplane.
My trip to Kauai to hike the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali coast did its best not to happen. I had lost my wallet while exploring the lava fields on the Big Island. I was able to fly because I had my passport, but had no source of money until I found a check cashing place to write a personal check to myself. To earn their 25%, they did what a bank would not do. They quickly called my bank to ask if I had the money in the account. Amazing.

Luckily, I have typed my credit card information into so many web pages that I was able to remember it by heart, even those few digits on the back. That allowed me to book my rental car, flights to Kauai, and reservations to camp. Unluckily, the car rental place would not rent me a car without a license and credit card in my hand. I felt they could look up the information they needed from my last reservation five days ago. No dice. They said I might have had my license taken from me by the police. Can the police in a different state to that? I don't know and suggested they call the police to ask if I had lost it. No dice. They also were not bending on the credit card. Since it was Sunday, the buses that could have taken me within ten miles of the trailhead were not running. The one cab at the airport said it would cost $120 to get me out there. I wasn't in a position to really pay that much since I didn't have easy access to more cash. I could have hitched, but was worried about time. The cab driver and I negotiated something a little more reasonable, but I had to walk off airport property for him to pick me up.


Ke'e Beach
My cab driver gave me one of the interesting rides I have ever had. While we drove the 40 miles around to the trailhead at Ke'e Beach, he told me about the sights. He showed me the best hotel on the island, the most beautiful hotel in the world. He pointed out the best beach on the island, the most beautiful in the world. He told me about all the movies they were filming there because the forests were the most beautiful in the world. He showed me the mountain that looks like King Kong's head that was used when they filmed the original. It might have been one of the most beautiful mountains in the world. As I learned about all this beauty, he talked in English that had smooth talking 1920's Italian flavor. He had migrated from the Philippines, but the way he spoke wasn't as influence by where he was from as where he learned to speak.


The Na Pali coast.


Snail on the trail.

The hike is broken up into three legs. The first part goes two miles into to a beach and waterfall trail. This was the worst part of the trail. It was drizzling which was taking the clay and turning into a top notch slip n slide. If only there weren't roots in the way. The second leg is four miles to a campsite and second waterfall trail that was still pretty slippery, but not as bad because not as many people walk in. The third is the final five miles to the Kalalau Valley. The last part of the trail had dried out, but had enough loose gravel to still cause slips. Because a slip on the trail was likely to prove fatal in so many places, this trail reminded me a lot of New Zealand where liability lawsuits don't exist so they do things a little more freely. At most places in the US, I think they would have hand rails and rope tie ins. The slips might not have been the most dangerous part though. A hiker behind me had an arrow land about twenty feet from her. Apparently, the locals who live in the valley were hunting the goats that she wanted to take pictures of.


My camping area in the Kulaulau valley.


Caves next to my campsite where a few people camped.
After seven long hours, I finally arrived at the Kalalau Valley. From the moment you arrive, something feels right. Something feels special. I've felt this at a number of places over the years like Red Rocks and Antarctica, but each one is special in its own way. Each one defies description. The only one to access the Na Pali coast is on foot or by kayak for two months a year. They are regular motorized boats and helicopters that can take you out there, but they can't drop you off. It isn't the same as when you are on the beach being dwarfed by the 3,500 foot mountains that tower overhead, left behind by a volcano. It isn't the same as when it is quiet enough to hear and see the whales blowing under the setting sun. It just isn't the same. It is like driving a car and riding a bicycle. In the car, you watch the scene. On bike, you are part of the scene. On foot, you are part of the scene.


Sunset.


The constellation Orion over the Kalalau Valley beach.
On my first night, I settled in to watch sunset and meet some of my fellow campers. Oddly enough, one of them knew my friend Robin from Antarctica and Denver. She has been on Kauai about two months before me. Small, small world. We got to see a few whales skirting by as we soaked in the last bits of the setting sun. Such a treat.


My private bath.


A weird plant. Maybe a fungus?
My second day in the valley was supposed to be my last. I was worried about getting out in time to catch my flight the following day without a rental car. I didn't want to risk missing it because that would mean I would not make it to Metro East Regionals to see En Sabah Nur (U. of Pittsburgh ultimate) play. Luckily, one wonderful couple I had met on the trail, Steve and Sara, had offered me a ride to where I could catch the bus if I stayed an extra night. That gave me a full day to wander up the valley, find old ruins, stretch my food out, and meet the locals. I don't think I found all the wonderful things in the valley that I could have if I had more time. I have a hunch there is a ton of stuff hidden back there. I did find random camp sites, hidden gardens, and a wonderful place to take a private soak.


Mountains that distinguish the Na Pali coast.


More great mountains.
Normally, there aren't locals at campsites. However, some people have made the valley their home. They bring in lots of supplies by boat and by foot if need be. They even have gardens. I'm not sure if they ever leave. To get an idea of them, think barefoot, tanned, some nudity, some hippy ideas, some great people, and you'll get a good idea of what to expect. It is a pretty simple life in a very special place. I can understand why they stay. One guy I met, Aaron, had adopted his dog from the valley. He had found him as part of a flea-filled litter that had been born there. The locals were super friendly, tossed some good frisbee, and were managing to make pizza out there on an oven they had put together. I'm definitely curious to try living out there for longer than two nights the next time that I go back. I don't think I'd ever sign up for the long tour though. Too hot.


Even more great mountains on the Na Pali coast.


and even more great mountains.
I think the only bad part of the valley for me was the heat on my second day. I was forced to take a three hour siesta in the shade because the heat was too much for me. Others didn't mind or went swimming. I just took it easy. It is a terrible thing to have to take a three hour time out in the middle of your day. If also gave me a chance to get a nap since my next night's sleep would be pretty short to make sure I got out for my flight.


Sunset round two.


Moon set.
On my way out, I moved quickly. The weather had been dry for three days and the trail was no longer slippery. While I was moving quickly, I still got to see some great stuff. I caught the moon setting, the sun rising, all black bumblebees, ready made bouquets of mini flowers, and a man who was maintaining the trail on his own. I wonder if the trial would even be passable without Bill's work. As I understand it, he has been told to stop due to a liability issue, but I'm glad he is taking care of it. The Hawaiian park service isn't well funded and I'm not sure how much they could dedicate to the trail's maintenance. Someone else asked the good question of do they want too much maintenance that would make it too easy to get back to the valley. I can only imagine what would happen if it was a National Park.


An all black bee.


Sleeping on a heliport on the trail.


The steep drop into the sea.


The Kalalau Valley.


Flowers on the Kalalau trail
Because the trail was so dry, I made it back out in no time. Then, I was to hitch a ride from someone who was able to tell me a ton about the situation back there. Apparently, they do try and get the locals out of the valley, but they can't surprise them. Also, the locals know the area better than the enforcement official ever will. Even if they remove some, others come back. They can confiscate camping equipment that the locals leave when then they flee, but new stuff always comes in, especially during the boating season. They are underfunded and just have a lot of other things to take care of, especially in more frequented parks. They valley is so far back that, I assume, it can be neglected a little bit.


Kauai airport lounge with open air gardens in the back.
After a wonderful $2 ride back around the island to the airport, I found another peaceful great waiting area. They had open air gardens and two men come out to play music. Like most airports, they had some art and this one included twenty four clocks from around the world. Each location listed had a special event associated with it. Unfortunately, those events are not named, just the location. One of the locations was the Ross Sea, where I used to work. Kudos to W. Tinus for noticing that all the clocks are actually set to the same time and not to different time zones, like I assumed.


Clocks that give the time for the location of significant events around the world, including the Ross Sea.


This sign entertained me. It looks more like a dance move than a warning.
The Na Pali coast is amazing. Even if you only have a single night out there, it may redefine your definition of beauty and grandeur. Go. Walk. Let your stresses melt off your shoulders. Enjoy. Smile.

Oahu

View from Lisa's house of Diamond Head Crater
I spent two small stints of my Hawaii time on Oahu. When I returned from the Big Island, I hung out with Lisa Curtis of Pittsburgh ultimate fame. I nagged her into playing sometime around 2002. She couldn't throw when she started, but was as fast as could be. She went to nationals before I did. Anyway, our first morning we hopped on bikes and headed for Hanamau Bay that my dad had recommended for snorkeling. On the way, Lisa took me to the Spitting Cave that works like a blow hole but blows water out horizontally. I have never seen anything like it and we were lucky enough to see a couple humpback whales there too even though the whale boat I called said they were closed because the whales left town for the season.


Humpback whale.


The Spitting Cave


A view from our bike ride.
After enjoying one of natures little wonders, we set off to Hanamau Bay. I didn't entirely know what to expect except good snorkeling. I thought it might be a quiet place. It isn't. I'd guess it is the most visited beach in Hawaii outside of Waikiki. You have to pay to get in if you aren't a Hawaiian resident (which I like), but man was it built up. You could even take a shuttle down to the beach. The price varied for uphill and downhill rides. The snorkeling was good, but, again, not great. The farther you went out, the better it got. Unfortunately, it was colder farther out and they kept blaring the loud speaker about strong currents if you went out too far. I am a good swimmer and I had fins on so I think that makes me a great swimmer, but I've heard about ocean currents so much that I was worried. I don't know if they are that bad or just being careful. Any thoughts? I can tell you that Hawaii's state fish, the Humuhumukununukuapua'a, is brilliant and I would have had no problem identifying it at the Great Barrier Reef even if I couldn't remember the full name to save my life.


Hanamau Bay shuttle.


Hanamau Bay
I rounded out my first visit on Oahu by attending the Kokua festival at the Waikiki Shell. It is a festival put on by Jack Johnson for his charity that supports environmental education. Jake Shimabukuro, a Hawaiian born ukulele master played lots of pop covers. He was followed up by Taj Mahal & The Hula Blues Band. I've always enjoyed Taj's blues music. This wasn't that. It was still good, but not great, for me. Ziggy Marley did some solo stuff and then Jack Johnson closed out the show. This was a family event. Jack Johnson sang the songs he wrote for Sesame Street which was a hoot. The whole concert was done by 10pm, maybe 10:30pm, and that was just fine for me. I needed some more sleep.

On my second visit to Honolulu, my host for the evening was delayed. I ended up paying for my only night of lodging in Hawaii at a hostel near Waikiki Beach. It was weird to be in a hostel so close to the finest clothing boutique stores that you'll never catch me near. I was pretty exhausted from my trip to Kauai (next blog), so I just crashed out in the hostel.


Sunrise from a Diamond Head Crater bunker.


Honolulu from Diamond Head Crater.
The next morning, I was headed for Diamond Head Crater to watch sunrise on a tip from Celeen. I got directions from the front desk and followed the water as instructed. I was able to walk on most of it because in Hawaii the shoreline belongs to the people. It can't be owned by whoever has that giant house next to it. I eventually found the road that I was directed to. It didn't get me to the entrance to Diamond Head Crater. It did get me to Diamond Head though. It was pretty neat to see people rolling up at 5am to get their pre-work surf in. As the sun got closer and closer to rising, I realized that my directions were bonk. On an educated guess, I just took a left turn and started scrambling up the hill. I was pleasantly rewarded when I got to the crater rim. I walked from old military bunker to bunker wondering where the actual trail was. I eventually found it after the sun had risen and everyone else showed up. Apparently, I was lucky. The guards at the gate did not let anyone in until after the sun had already come up. One couple asked if I had been the guy on the rim that they saw at sunrise. I was and was a little proud of my serendipity, which I can't take any credit for. It just happened.


USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor.
My visit to Pearl Harbor was moving. After waiting in ninety degree heat and taking the longest bus ride ever to get there, I was told I'd have to wait two hours to take a tour of the USS Arizona memorial. In the mean time, you could explore all of the other tours that cost money. I signed up for a tour of the USS Bowfin submarine. I haven't been in a sub as an adult. Man, they are small.


USS Bowfin
After I left that tour, I was reading the 54 plaques with the achievements of the submarines that were lost during the war. For reasons I can't explain, it brought the experience a lot closer to home. It made it personal. I don't know of anyone that served on subs, but something clicked.


List of names of people interred in the USS Arizona


USS Arizona Memorial
When I was done, I headed over to my USS Arizona memorial tour. You take a boat over to the memorial which straddles the sunken ship. Once there, you get 15-30 minutes to explore and hear a ranger talk about what happened. In the memorial, there is a list of 1,177 men who lost their lives on the USS Arizona when Pearl Harbor was attacked. However, there is a second list of those who survived the initial attack, but chose to be interred with their shipmates when they died later in life.


Honolulu Airport Lounge

Big Island, Hawaii

Akaka falls


End to end rainbow.
Even when I was just killing time before the main event of seeing lava, the Big Island offered up beauty. The eastern half of the island is cast in a rain shadow, receiving rain over half the days of the year. The benefit of rain . . . lush green forests and, of course, rainbows. It was amazing to see how quickly the rain would be blow through and leave a rainbow behind. I always thought I was about to get drenched, but it never happened. One of the neatest things I saw was rainbows that actually had a start and end. They didn't just disappear into the sky. I don't think I have ever seen that before.


First campsite with rock cliffs on left.


Punaluu Black Sand Beach
After my adventures in Volcanoes National Park, I decided to take a quick look around the rest of the island instead of staying put. I might have been better rested if I just stayed put, but that just doesn't seem to be my style. At least not when I still have energy. I definitely have trouble passing up a chance to do something new when I might not be able to get back there anytime soon. That set me on a track to see black sand, green sand, and whatever anyone else pointed out along the way.


Black sand on my hand


Green turtle on Punaluu, Black Sand Beach
My first great stop was at Punaluu, the black sand beach. It is a beach, just like any other, but it is black. There was a tour group at the beach when I arrived and they had all congregated in the middle, but I didn't know why. I was on the phone chatting with my friend Dana slowly heading towards where the tourists were. I was not completely paying attention. I was just hoping to get to the far side of the beach and then soak it up on the way back. Well, the problem with that is that you might almost step on a turtle!!! I didn't, but I was close. The sleeping turtles were why all the tourists had gathered around. The only time I saw them move was when a little boy pulled on one's fin. The parents said nothing. Grr.


Fishing with bags


Ka Lae
When I was on the Great Barrier Reef, a woman said I had to see Papakōlea Beach, Green Sand Beach. The first step to getting there was take the South Point road to the southern most point of the United States, Ka Lae. A lot of people think this is actually in Texas or one of the Florida Keys, but Hawaii has the same latitude as Mexico City, so the southern tip of Hawaii wins (Bonus points to anyone who can name the other 3 extremes relative to the Prime Meridian without googling. I bet most of you only get two right.). At Ka Lae, a number of people were using a fishing technique that I have never seen. They would essentially cast a garbage bag and hook up into the wind. To be a successful cast, they needed the wind to blow the bag far out to sea away from the cliffs. Apparently, that is where the big fish are, but it is impossible to cast it that far. Very, very cool


Green Sand in my hand.


Papakōlea Beach, a green sand beach
Anyway, getting to the green sand isn't obvious. I had to ask some locals, but before I could even get the question out they asked if I was there to cliff jump. I said no way, that stuff scares me. I watched them jump once, reaffirmed my desire to not fall that far, and then got directions. It took about an hour over roads that only jeeps were driving to get there. When I got there, the clouds had rolled in so the green color didn't really stick out. The green sand comes from the olivine rock that has been eroding for thousands of years. Pretty cool. Pretty quiet. I wish I had more time to spend there, but I had decided to try and hustle back to get talked into cliff jumping. I was kicking myself for turning down a chance to spend time with locals and take part in some of the nonsense they do. I figured, I travel to experience things, not just to see them and they had offered me a great experience.


My first cliff jump.
When I got back, the locals I had talked to were loading up to leave. I had said that I hoped to jump and one guy said I shouldn't because if I couldn't do enough pull ups to get on the rusted out ladder then I might get stuck. One of the guys, Tyler, said to forget that. He told me he'd do one more with me if I wanted, so off we went. They taught me a little technique. I gut checked about a hundred times, stopped thinking about it, and just followed Tyler in. I can't remember a time when I've been so happy to hit something after falling that far. It was such a relief to strike the water. No injuries. Lots of fun. Electricity flowing through the body. After that one, they tried to get me to jump in a hole that they also use. The drop isn't nearly as far, but there are rocks to each side of you and you have to swim out under a land bridge to the ladder. They said it is actually safer, but I was done for the day. I didn't want to have to figure out how to time my jump so the waves would pull me back out to the ladder. Eek! Next time!!


Kailua-Kona.


Road decorations on HI-19 north of Kailua-Kona


Donkey crossings, really?!?

After my jump, my adrenaline couldn't keep up and the rest of my trip was downhill. I slept the night on the coast again and then borrowed a local's kayak to go over to the one of the few pieces of foreign soil in the USA that isn't an embassy. The British government has been deeded the land where Captain James Cook's memorial is located in Kealakekua Bay. It marks the spot where he was killed after returning to the sheltered harbor for repairs. The snorkeling is supposed to be amazing in the bay. Unfortunately, I didn't find the great stuff. I think part of it is that I didn't know where to look and part of it was that I had just wrapped up three days on the Great Barrier Reef. I'd gone too big too soon and become a snob.

From there, I headed up the coast to Kailua-Kona, though everyone just calls the city Kona. I was really just passing through the Kona area to soak up some of their sunshine and to buy some coffee for a couple friends who are addicts, especially Betty who gets an extra shout out for surviving another bike accident, but this time a car hit her instead of her trying to take out an old lady. I think my favorite part of Kona was finding a gallery of Michael Wyland's because my mom raved about him for years. At first, I couldn't figure out why I knew the name, but it came to me after a brilliant meal at the Kona Brewing company. yum, yum. After some food, it was time to get moving. I had get back to Hilo to fly out by 8pm. I headed north and on the way passed more reclaimed lava fields. The highway cut right through the black rock. The best part was that people have taken white rocks and written messages up and down the highway on the black rock.


The original statue of King Kamehameha I that was lost at sea and restored.


Mauna Kea


Observatory equipment on Mauna Kea.
My last major stop was Mauna Kea. Its 13,803 foot summit is ideal for star gazing because it has over 300 clear nights a year and is above most air pollutants. I believe five countries have observatories near the summit. It was pretty incredible to see so much hardware so high up. It reminded me of Mt. Fuji which is so developed on the summit. The only thing I have seen elsewhere that comes close is Pikes Peak and to a much lesser extent Mt. Evans. Thankfully, we haven't built roads to the top of most of out taller mountains. Anyway, the drive and short hike to the summit was great. It was mostly clouded in but I managed to catch a few great sites before heading back down. Changing altitude so quickly definitely reminded me of my Mt. Fuji hike. Good memories. I think preferred the hike even though driving up was quite a bit easier for me, if not for the car. After hiking to the summit, it was time to get myself to the airport which is a special treat in Hawaii because they have waiting areas that are a lot homier than anything I have seen anywhere else in the world. I wish more airports would follow their model.


Big Island airport terminal.