(As a bit of escapism, a break from the frustration of politics, I offer this glimpse of a real day in my life before I joined society - with adventure, traditional Hawaiian cooking techniques, and a hint of romance. Yes, there is an alternative to the eight to five…)
A better day
The Adventure
Waimanu Valley, for the typical hiker, is an intense, all day up and down trek along a jungle trail, gaining and losing thousands of feet as you traverse the vertical valley walls and thirteen gulches between the nearest road and the beautiful beach which is your destination. But to those of us who live nearby, it is just a waypoint towards a more alluring destination, through the waves pounding the massive cliffs on the far side of the valley – a paradise of languid pools at the foot of astoundingly high waterfalls, of groves of tropical fruits, of perfect waves washing the untouched beds of shellfish crowding the shore. Getting there is the problem, but my friend Dano and his girlfriend Ty had joined my son Kala and myself in a lengthy getaway from the “stresses” of interacting with the other members of our small community of outcasts and farmers. But all things call for change eventually, and I was feeling restless and ready to go home. We would have left sooner, but high surf had come up and trapped us on the point.
I awoke at the first hint of dawn and tuned my ear to the surf, deciding if I should awaken the rest, if today was the day. The waves were still loud, but they had died down a bit in the night, and the rains had passed. We had been on the point for a few weeks, and while there is never a shortage of food there, we had run out of the food and treats we had carried in a good week before, and as good as the food one gathers is, the craving for sugar and chocolate was getting the better of us. The tide was low an hour or so after dawn- perfect for our escape. And getting out was easier than coming in. I decided we should at least try.
The first crossing was exhilarating, although the waterfall was raging from the heavy rains in the night. Walking behind it we had to feel our way along the overhung cliff, as we could see nothing through the spume generated when the falls hit the ocean after a 500 foot drop. But on either side, the waves petered out into foam by the time they hit the base of the cliff. The prospects of making it down the coast looked good.
Challenging on a nice day
Most of the run was “dry” rocks- dry as in not underwater, anyway. “Run” is a bit of a misnomer, too, as running over jumbled boulders was difficult with a pack and a five year old on my shoulders. Besides, it was Ty’s first trip and she hadn’t quite gotten the knack of boulder hopping, although she had certainly improved after a few weeks of regular forced practice. Speed was important not just to make the tide, but because the 1400 foot cliffs we were passing on the narrow belt of tidal rocks between their base and the ocean constantly dropped pebbles, which fell with such force that they pulverized into powder when they hit the boulders below. The half mile stretch you have to spend in the impact zone is not a good place to linger. We stayed as close to the cliff as possible, not just to escape the waves but because most of the falling rock would hit further out.
The great obstacle to our departure was the three points of solid rock that protruded out from the base of the cliffs into the waves. Kala whimpered in fear when he saw six foot waves slamming the end of the first point, but this one was easily climbed from the side we were on. Normally we would have had to go around the second, exposed to the full force of the waves, but we had salvaged a rope from an old net on the way in and it was still attached to the top, allowing us to climb right up the smooth rock face. The tiny stretch of berm between second and third point was in a sea cave, and the water was washing to the back. But timing is everything when you are living a feral life, and we knew it would be no problem timing the sets so we could make it up the third point before the next big set washed in. Dano went first and pulled Ty up after him. I waited through the next set, ran across, handed Kala to Dano, and pulled myself up just as the next big wave washed my feet.
Thinking we had easily surmounted our big obstacle, I was dismayed as the real problem became apparent. The big surf that had kept us from leaving had washed out all the boulders along the base of the cliff for quite a ways- there was an impressively long wall where the waves washed right against the cliff face. There was no way we were going to cross that in the brief lull between sets. We were going to get pounded by any wave that came in while we were crossing. And it could be months- years, even- before those boulders washed back in. After a brief discussion, we decided that the tide didn’t get much lower, or the waves much smaller, that time of year. Ty trembled in fear, and even Kala could tell this was not good, but we all realized we had to go for it.
The drop from the top of the point was now a good twelve feet, we guessed- ten to the water, anyway. Clearly I had to go first so Dano could hand down Kala. I watched a long time, trying to get a feel for the pattern of the sets, but the tide wasn’t going to stay down forever. I lowered myself and hung by my fingertips, waiting for the proper moment. Finally dropping into the water swirling below, I discovered that under the whitewater the boulders that remained were large and slippery. I did the splits over the top of one and fell over with my foot wedged between the rocks. Scrambling to my feet, I found I was only slightly injured but precious seconds had been lost. Dano threw Kala down at me, and I caught him and flung him onto my shoulders as I started running through the whitewater at the base of the cliff, utterly blind to my footing on the slippery algae covered boulders below.
Slipping and sometimes falling to my knees, I floundered no more than half way before I saw the next set looming. Relying on past experience, I braced myself with one hand as far away from the cliff face as I could reach, while grasping my son’s ankle hard enough to bruise with the other hand. “Hold on!”, I yelled, and he wrapped his arms around my neck so tightly it strangled me. The wave broke over our heads, and I held my brace as best I could. After a split second during which it felt certain that we would be slammed into the cliff, the backwash from the wave hitting the cliff in front of us pushed us away with a force nearly equal to the force from behind, and we were washed along the cliff instead. Regaining my feet, I braced again for the next wave, but this time the outwash from the first blunted the force of the following wave and I kept my footing. The third wave was smaller, and behind that looked flat, so I resumed my flounder/run for the end of the wall. Just as we were about to reach our goal, I looked out to sea and saw what looked to be the biggest wave I had seen all day humping up. My adrenaline pumped up yet another notch, just when I thought that would have been impossible, and as far as I know I literally flew the last few yards to safety. We leapt up onto the high boulder berm as the wave broke and pushed us along from behind.
Dano and Ty, meanwhile, had gotten a grandstand view of this drama from their high, safe perch on the point of rock. “I can’t do it!” Ty cried. “You don’t have any choice” Dano pointed out. “Can’t we wait for a better time?” “We’ve been stuck for a week. Who knows how long it will be before another chance comes?” “I don’t care, I’d rather live out here for the rest of my life than have to cross that wall!” Dano gave up on reason and started to bully her into it. Suddenly both realized that the best lull yet was upon them, and it was now or never.
Dano grabbed Ty and pretty much dropped her off the point, jumping down after. She landed gracefully and started to run, but Dano clearly came down hard and it looked like he was hurting. Ty sprinted ahead, driven by fear, while he limped and staggered after her. The inevitable set rolled in, but luckily it was small. Dano, experienced, braced and held his ground, but Ty fell into the wave, which saved her from getting smashed on the cliff. Washed along the base of the cliff, she came up dazed and Dano had a chance to catch up and lift her to her feet. Holding hands, they bolted to safety where Kala and I stood watching. “Not as bad as it looked”, said Dano, as Ty stood there bleeding.
Read More