No Rain (Finally)!

Note: This entry was started pre-Madeline and completed post-Madeline. I would never participate in fire-breathing, torch-running or log-breaking now that I'm a responsible father.

Thankfully the rain has stopped, which is why I haven't updated in awhile - I've been outside.

Last week, we headed to Maha'ulepu beaches once it finally cleared up, because it was still too moist to do any hiking or mountain biking. Em enjoyed the weather on the beach while I did some snorkeling. The water was slightly sandy, but overall pretty nice so I saw lots of fish and a large manta ray. This is my first effort with an underwater camera, so give me a break.

I got a few mountain bike rides in over the following days and despite the recent rain it wasn't too muddy. The highlight of the weekend was hiking 5 miles of the Kalalau trail along the Na Pali coast. The first few miles were really muddy and slippery, but passable with the aid of trekking poles. I'd done this hike several times, but never beyond Hanakapiai beach at 2 miles. I continued out of the valley and crested a ridge after about a mile to look down into a beautiful valley and see along the east and west sides of the Na Pali coast. Clouds intermittently crept in and along the mountains, making for dramatic scenery.

Shortly thereafter, I encountered an interesting individual who lives on the trail and uses his own time and money to maintain the trail. http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2007/12/11/news/news01.txt

I have mixed feelings about this sort of thing. I appreciate what he is trying to do and enjoy the fruits of his labor in the form of better trail conditions. However, this is an untrained individual making changes to government property. If everyone was allowed to do this, it might be trouble. I'm starting to get too political lately and I hate politics so back to the trail scenery.

Back into another valley only to crest a ridge after another 1.5 miles - an even more spectacular view with sheer green sea cliffs rising all around me and Hanakoa falls (1400') visible just half a mile inland. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to descend into to Hanakoa valley, visit the campsite and make the 1/2 mile side trip to the base of the falls due to the weather and a late start. A great start to a long weekend.

Friday night was wild one. Our entire group headed to the beach near the Sheraton (Poipu) for drinks and a grillout. We sat, snacked, talked and watched the sunset - the beer flowed like wine. I fired up the grill and cooked the sausages. Joe and Chelsae nearly starved since Joe left the turkey burgers at home - but he would pay for his sins later in the evening. We started a campfire on the beach with driftwood and listened to music on portable speakers. After getting through the majority of a Great Lakes Sampler Pack, I taught everyone to breathe fire. I was surprised that no one had seen or done this before, but when they saw it, it was an instant hit. There's nothing like a mouthful of gin blown onto a campfire to stimulate the senses. Everyone took their turn, even Emily who (unbeknownst to her at the time) would deliver her first child only 3 days later.

We (meaning me) continued the fun by lighting 6 ft. palm fronds and running down the beach with the fiery palm torch held overhead. As we ran low on fuel we set our sights on larger driftwood. We found a 10 ft., 5 in. diameter log, but were unable to break it into firewood sized chunks. Joe had the bright idea to have me grab the other end while both of us ran full speed at a palm tree trunk in order to break the log. Alas, I outweigh Joe and physics was against him, for when we hit the tree trunk, I kept going forward and Joe got slingshotted back toward our group. I saw him get launched into the sand from the corner of my eye, but our friends said the view from behind was downright hysterical. The shenanigans continued for a few more hours and I'm pretty sure we managed to scare quite a few of the hotel guests, but hey, beaches are public property and we weren't doing anything illegal - just acting like idiots.

Miraculously, I wasn't hungover (despite finishing the sampler pack), but my chest was a bit sore and scraped, Joe, on the other hand, is still recovering from the near-paralyzing blow to the chest that I delivered. We only had a camera phone to document this event, but I'll try to get some pictures. Good times!