Surprises in the Mail

On Thursday, I hiked into the Makaleha section of Eastern Kauai. This hike is a trail of use, not an officially maintained trail so it was a very wild experience. I'll give you a summary and a few pictures to whet your appetite, but the complete story will follow in a later edition. It involves wading thigh-deep through the stream, meandering through dense bamboo groves, crossing the stream a couple more times and it gets harder from there. At this point, the "trail" passes through hau trees whose branches grow up, down, sideways, etc. As a result, the hike turns more into a climb on a jungle gym - pardon the pun. I mentioned a machete in a previous post...well, now I have one and it's been used. In fact, following machete marks is the way to follow the "trail". The last couple hundred yards you wade through the stream to a convergence and at that point you're rewarded with a fairy tale view of 5 waterfalls, some of which are close to 1000 feet high, some a couple hundred feet and partially obscured. I included the view of the upper falls from the trailhead.

While I was working an extra shift today, Em called and told me I had a package at home. She said she thought she knew what it was, but I wasn't expecting anything so I had no idea.

If you've been keeping up with my posts or know me at all, you know that I'm hurting for high quality beer out here. I'm sure only a few can understand my pain, but when you've known somebody for 30 years, they understand. My long-time friend, Hark Johnny, sent me a package and from the first look I knew it would be good.

Life here on Kauai is pretty good, like a nearly perfect rainbow. All it took was a few homebrews from Hark to make the rainbow completely perfect.

I won't go into too many details on the beer, but the one on the left is the IPA we (mostly Hark) brewed shortly before I left for Kauai. I don't know how much it cost to get that sixer here, but it's got to be one of the most expensive ones I've ever had. Hark, that shipping's gonna payoff tenfold for you somewhere down the line. By the way, I already had one of the porters and the taste/carbonation was perfect. Mad props to Hark J!!!!

Chelsae's 30th Birthday Party Debauchery

We've had a good deal of fun since I posted last. A few good mountain bike rides, hikes and a 30th birthday party. Last Thursday I mountain biked one of the hunting roads in Koke'e. Thankfully, I remembered my camera this time (including the battery). Excellent riding surface hauling down Kahelu ridge road to a few pretty nice views into Makaha valley and Polihale beach (the longest beach in the state of HI).

Also,I had views of the Makaha Ridge Navy communication station from this side and more to follow from the opposite side.

After what seemed like a very long crawl up to the top although it was "only" an hour of uphill riding, I did a little 4x4 driving to explore some more of the park. Shortly thereafter, I found myself in Colorado...at least it looked like Colorado. I'm still amazed by diversity of environments that I find on this tiny island.

I came upon an excellent, remote picnic are with views to Ni'ihau that would be perfect for watching the sunset.

Next the roads took me to Milioli'i ridge road which I drove down and I was greeted by some 4-wheelin' fun. The access gate was unexpectedly unlocked, so I drove to the end of the road. Some of the terrain was moderately difficult requiring low-range 4-wheel driving. The termination of the road presents you with winds whipping in all directions and red dirt swirling everywhere.

Milioli'i beach on the Na Pali coast below

Views of the Navy station to the left

and the Nualolo ridge to the right. This jaunt was supposed to be only a mountain bike ride, but turned into a 6 hour excursion. But really, could you resist?

Friday night we celebrated Chelsae's 30th birthday with drinks and dinner and drinks. At least that was the plan until nearly the entire island was without power for 3 hours. Things like this happen here. As a result, the middle part (dinner) got cut from the evening.
Drinks + Dinner + Drinks = Fun
Fun - Dinner = Trouble
...and trouble most certainly did follow.

Some highlights:
Shots, Shots, Shots!
Joe in his underwear on the deck
Mike walking throught the screen door...twice
4/8 people puking before the night would end (Em and I survived)
Joe using the Shop Vac on the hardwood floors...and couch...and coffee table from Chelsae's "performance"- you get the idea.

Pictures will follow as soon as Joe gets them to me.

The next day was miserable with all participants, but the pregnant lady, entirely debilitated.

Em and I did go to "our" private beach to watch the waves and turtles and catch a little sun. There were some nice curling 8 footers that were crashing on the cliffs - waves, not turtles. Then on to Kapa'a on the east side for some Mexican food and to check out the organic/natural grocery store. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they carried some truly excellent beers that I had previously thought were unavailable on the island. Bison and Butte Creek -reasonable prices too.

Sunday we made our weekly trip to the cafe for breakfast and then onward to Koke'e to explore the Mohihi-Wai'ale trail. This trail takes you deep into the old growth wilderness of Koke'e. Em did quite well with the hike and we were treated to some nice views into Koaie Canyon.

At about two miles, the trail became overrun with ferns which we pushed our way through until Em had donated about a pint of blood to the ferns with their scratchy branches.
The trip back was even more scenic with a view to an amazing waterfall that we hadn't seen on the way in. As far as I can tell, this 500 footer is unnamed, but it a tributary to Koaie Stream. Well worth the hike up until the ferns, but next time I'm taking a machete.

On the way out, I made a quick jaunt to the Po'omau Lookout trail. Not bad for a quarter mile hike.

I know everyone's sick of pictures of Kauai, Em and me, but be patient; the elder Michael Dreyer and family will be visiting next week and then we'll probably shoot over to Maui for a couple days. Funny, most people talk about a trip to Maui as the vacation of a lifetime, but we get to do it for a long weekend. If that doesn't pique your interest, then wait for Colorado pictures coming after my trip there in late October. If that doesn't interest you, then don't come back.

Po'omau Trail = Punishment for Drunkeness

The weekend started off pretty nicely with 12 mile mountain bike ride on one of the hunting roads in Koke'e State park. Great riding surface, though the views from this particular trail were lacking. I had the camera with me, but the battery was at home. I did run into a few goats and about a half dozen bulls on the trail. Thankfully, the bulls (horns and all) were more scared of me than I of them.

We spent most of Friday and Saturday around the house. Em took care of some bills while I finally finished getting the garage organized. Only took a month and a half.

Friday night we joined the rest of the Kauai crew for drinks and free tacos at the Olympic Cafe in Kapa'a on the "busy" east side of the island.

Saturday night we had everyone over for cashew chicken and drinks. We played some cards and next thing you know, I was the better part of a 12 pack into the night. This made for a rather painful Sunday.

On Sunday morning we headed to the Kalaheo Cafe for breakfast, our new tradition. Em decided to ride her bike on the trainer at home, while I went out to punish myself with an 8 mile hike. There's no better way to help prevent over-indulgence than by sweating out a few miles on the trail. Also, the 2ooo ft. drops on either side of the trail help steady the nerves. The hike is the Po'omau Canyon Ditch trail. Excellent canyon views with some spectacular waterfalls. (Oh yeah, I spent the first part of the hike on the wrong trail bushwhacking through jungly wild ginger - at least it smelled good.)

I'm not sure what the name of the waterfall is. It's just one of the many 400-600 ft. waterfalls that nobody really cares about.

This is the view from lunchtime looking down into Po'omau Canyon onto Po'omau Stream.

Veiws into the canyon with the ocean in the far background

Another one of those waterfalls that nobody talks about as viewed from about 1500' above.

The view from this point on the trail was, as the guidebook described, "a vista from a poets dream". A single picture doesn't do it justice because there was beauty surrounding me.

The hike back was highlighted by flowers, liliko'i (passion fruit) and me sweating full-strength Rogue Dead Guy Ale.

On a different note, after 25 years of education, I finally got my first real doctor paycheck. I promptly cashed it in singles and rolled around in it nude. I'll forgo posting any pictures of this event as it is not for the faint of heart.

More posts soon!

Kauai Drug News

Just a few days ago, the biggest pot bust on public land in Hawaii history was made by DEA. This occurred at the foot of Wai'ale'ale, the rainiest place on earth. 6000 plants, estimated street value of 5.9 mil! Em and I went 4-wheeling and hiking right near here. We were probably within half a mile or less of the fields and didn't even know it. Details can be found in the following links:
http://starbulletin.com/2007/09/05/news/story02.html
http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2007/09/05/news/news02.txt
http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2007/09/06/news/news01.txt

Drugs are bad, mkay.

Labor Day Weekend

It was a fun-filled weekend with plenty of relaxation thrown in for good measure. Sunday, we spent the day at Ke'e beach on the north shore with our friends Nate and Nicole. We took the snorkel gear and the kayaks so we weren't just sitting there in the sun all day. The snorkeling was decent - nicely colored fish with good variety, but the tide was down so we couldn't get over the reef because the water was shallow. It was a good place to start, because the water there is very flat.

After we dried off some, Nate and I went out in the kayaks along the Na Pali coast. We cruised along without getting crushed by the ocean even though there were swells up to 4 feet. A short while into the trip we saw a school of dolphins, some of which were spinning out of the water. We even saw a couple babies shooting out of the water and spinning. This was followed by another school. At the closest, they came within 20 feet of our boats. The views of Na Pali were, of course, breathtaking throughout. We continued paddling fairly easily all the way to Hanakapi'ai beach where we landed the kayaks pretty easily. We rested for awhile with other people nearby who had hiked there via the Kalalau trail. As we reached the beach, waves as big as 8 feet were crashing on the shore. Thankfully, these were intermittent and we were able to launch the kayak in 2-3 ft waves. We entered the kayaks once we had swum past the breaks and then paddled our asses off against the current and the wind. It was depressing to watch the coastline barely inch by, so I pretty much just kept my mind on the paddling and preventing the kayak from capsizing. Visions of the April canoe trip with the guys to Double Island were in the front of my mind. At least if you capsize in the Pacific you don't die of hypothermia within minutes.

We made it back to the flatwater of Ke'e without any big problems (except sore arms). Not likely to do the trip that way again. Next time, we're going west the whole 11 miles and getting picked up on the west side of the island - no more paddling against the current and winds.

I was on call Labor Day, but didn't get called in - not a bad deal. However, this meant that I couldn't join in the 7 person hike on the Awa-'awapuhi trail. Em went and had a good time despite being severely sunburnt from Sunday in various patches on her body (in all fairness, I got sunburnt too, the first time since we've been here). I described some of the hike in my previous post, 7 miles and 1800 ft. of elevation - not bad for a pregnant chic! Pictures forthcoming (though Em took most of them so I can't vouch for the quality - probably lots of sky and cut-off heads - her specialty). She was worn out, but not enough to keep us home that night.

This is Nate, he's the one that kayaked with me and part of the hiking crew.

We went to Joe and Chelsae's for a Labor Day BBQ. Mike (who is a chef) had smoked ribs for 8 hours the night before and grilled some wings with an asian style sauce of his own creation. The wings were great, the ribs, smoky and oh so delicious. I even got to take some home. As most people were spent from the hike earlier in the day, we headed home at a decent hour. A good thing since Em starts work today (Tuesday).

Unfortunately, I'm on call quite a bit this week so don't I don't expect a whole lot of action in the next few days. More adventures as they arise...