Hiking Adventure

An adventure was proposed. I hadn't been on one of those in a long while. So I jumped at the opportunity. We were going to hike to a waterfall, jump in it, and hike home. A total of 9 miles. Perfect adventure length. The morning was overcast and threatened rain, which isn't a good thing when hiking in Hawaii. Rain makes mud, which makes slippery trails and eroded cliffs. But no worries, brah! The sun came out by the time we hit the trail.

The first part of the trail follows a cliff overlooking the entire Pacific Ocean. I could practically see Japan over that big blue lovable body of water. Up and down, in and out, the trail winds down to a beach where swimming is prohibited. Well, no one actually guards the surfline... but the way the ocean sweeps parallel to the shore in foamy white cascades should convince any sensible person not to swim.

After we rested at the beach, we took a trail mauka (towards the mountains), following a river. It was rather comforting listening to the murmur of the stream as we hiked along it - water makes me feel safe. The trail mostly lies straight within earshot of the water, but it sometimes crosses over the boulders in the middle of the river. This, I was told by a fellow hiker, is really fun to do - jumping from rock to rock. I tried to have fun jumping (and I almost did), but eventually found myself, head against the warm rock, sprawled flat after a daring jump on a wet boulder. Jump on dry rocks. Oh.

The hike up the river was strenuous, but eventually the prize, the El Dorado, the waterfall was spotted. A hundred feet high and icy cold, the waterfall sprayed mist on our faces even when we stood at a distance. We set our cans of Mountain Dew (see, thinking ahead makes for happiness) in a cold shallows to chill while we chilled ourselves swimming in the pool. At first, I was determined to swim for the falls and get my hair soaked in paradise, but dipping one toe in that water convinced me otherwise. Almost instantly, my feet were numb from standing in the shallows. I waded in further and my legs were senseless. I jumped in completely (except my head) just to say I did it, but jumped right out as soon as humanly possible with useless frozen legs. It was hours before I was completely thawed out. It felt like swimming in the Arctic, and this is supposed to be Hawaii!

Hiking home is always the hardest part. There are no waterfalls at the end. Between you and your car ride home lies a seemingly insurmountable stretch of mud, hills, rocks, and heat. At least we had the cool Mountain Dew. Needless to say, I did survive the hike home and relaxed my sore and aching body in the hot tub. Days later, I am finally not quite so sore, and I'm ready for another adventure!