I Never Even Considered that a Fishing Trip Would Lead to a Dislocated Shoulder

Grandma and Grandpa D came to visit at the end of March, but unfortunately I didn't have the time off to spend the entire week with them. However, Maddie and Em spent the entire week running around the island, visiting the beaches and enjoying their time with the grandparents. Considering how late I am with this blog entry, I don't remember exact days when we did things, but I will sum up the highlights. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Cindy and Big Den - send me your pics and I'll post them. On a positive note, Maddie learned how to do some nude modeling and we did get pictures of that.

They arrived midweek and made a couple trips to the beaches - Mahaulepu, Baby beach, Sheraton, but primarily just relished their time with Maddie. Maddie learned about the so-called North Carolina pool which consists of a hole in the sand, lined with garbage bag and filled with ocean water. It made for warmer water as well as greater safety.

Em and Grandma D went mudbugging which is a dune-buggy ride along some of the sloppy trails on the southeast side of the island. You essentially get doused with mud and speed around running stuff over. I declined the invitation since, as some of you may know, I've had a head injury in the past on an ATV. Thus, I am no longer allowed to pilot modes of transportation such as ATVs, dune buggies, waverunners, etc.
We spent a cloudy, occasionally rainy day at Hideaways beach and got a little snorkeling in. It was below average, but at least we out there rather than sitting at home watching TV. One day, the five of us hiked the Kuilau trail to Moalepe with some decent views of distant waterfalls and Waialeale with its surrounding mountain range. Of course the top was obscured by a dense layer of clouds, but pretty nonetheless.

What Big Den and I anticipated to be a highlight of the trip turned into quite the debacle. We made plans to go deep sea fishing despite warnings from the captain that it would be a bumpy ride due to the recent high winds and rain. The day was nice enough, but once we got on the water our captain's prediction became reality. We were having a good time just being on the water, but it was bumpy and the fish weren't biting much. Then one bit and Big Den worked so hard reeling it in that he dislocated his shoulder...well that might be a little bit of a fish tale. So what really happened? You might have seen The Perfect Storm - well it was kinda like that. I looked through the windshield of the boat and all I saw was a wall of water, I couldn't even see the top of the wave. We hit it HARD, crested it and then dropped into the hole behind it and hit even HARDER. When I saw the wall of water, I dropped to the deck so I didn't get tossed from the boat, while it caught Big Den a little more off guard. He was holding a rail inside the boat when we hit so hard that the sheer force dropped him off his seat to the deck while his grip on the rail remained tenacious. As they say, something's got to give and it happened to be his shoulder. I didn't realize that anyone had been injured until he mentioned that I might have some doctoring to do when we got back onto solid ground. After a few minutes and quick field evaluation (meaning the look on his face told it all), we asked our captain to turn around. Each wave we hit on the way back was a wave of agony for Big Den. We got back to the car and I made the ride to the hospital as smooth as possible. In the ER, they X-rayed his shoulder, drugged him up, laid him on his belly, put a weight in his arm and pop, the shoulder was back in place. On the way home, I talked to Big Den a little about his shoulder, but about the only thing he concluded (or remembered) was that Versed (like Valium) is some good stuff! The bum shoulder put a little damper on the activities for the rest of the trip, but we still had a great time. If any of you have heard the story from Big Den about the "Big One that got away and dislocated my shoulder in the process", at least you know the truth now.

Maddie shows Big Den how to catch fish without dislocating her shoulder

Simply Put, The Best Hike Ever (Part 1 of 2)

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I've been busy doing things rather than writing about them. We also had a bunch of visitors as well as home improvements going on. Enough excuses, on to the the greatest hike of all time, the Kalalau trail.

The Kalalau trail is 11 miles and 5000 feet of elevation change along one of the most rugged and beautiful shorelines in the world. Rated as a Top 1o trip worldwide by Backpacker Magazine, this trail is located on the north shore of Kauai, so it's practically in my backyard. Sadly enough, it's taken me a year and a half to finally organize this adventure with someone, but suffice it to say that it was worth the wait.

Tyler and I left Kalaheo at 4:30 AM in the rain to start hiking on the north shore at 6:00 with only a light mist in the air. Daylight came around right as the mist cleared and the light upon the pali (cliffs) at this early hour was magnificent. The weather was cool and breezy, perfect for making good time along the trail and enjoying the scenery without the burden of sweating buckets. I'd hiked the first 4-5 miles so I tried to avoid taking hundreds of pictures right away. However, I'd never hiked it that early so I succumbed to the beauty of the NaPali coast and snapped a few.

Hanakapiai Beach

Hanakoa Falls

It appeared that we had the trail to ourselves and in fact, we saw no one else until 6 miles into the hike in Hanakoa valley. They were taking a break and one of them was recovering from a nasty spill on the slippery rocks at the Hanakoa stream crossing. He had slipped and caught himself with his right cheek resulting in a nasty cut under his quickly blackening eye. We took the safest route during all the crossings and walked barefoot through the stream rather than risk rock-hopping.

As we proceeded along the trail we alternately dipped into valleys and crested ridges, each more beautiful than the last. Each of these areas had its own microclimate with the flora varying from one to the next. After mile 7 the trail dried out and the terrain assumed the character of Kauai's west shore more than north shore changing from moist, fertile jungle to dry, rocky desert. About the same time, we started to catch glimpses of Kalalau valley and beach enticing us onward toward our goal.

The trail is the diagonally sloping line at the top third of the picture

Continuing on, my photography breaks became more frequent as the scenery became progessively more incredible. From this point onward, I think I lack the vocabulary to adequately describe our surroundings. Upon dropping down over Red Hill into the Kalalau valley I could hardly express my amazement at the surreal beauty of this setting. However, I felt rather sure that never in my life would I find a more stunning view.

After some acclimation to the extreme beauty of our surroundings, we hiked under the tree canopy and found a campsite along Kalalau stream. Shaded by palms with the stream rushing by and the Cathedrals above us, I couldn't envision a better place to spend the next two nights. We organized our camp and took advantage of a slight drizzle as time to sleep off some of the 10 mile hike (the trail continues across the river to Kalalau beach at 11 miles).

View from our campsite downriver

View from our campsite upriver

We awakened from a short nap, refreshed and hungry so we cooked an early dinner which left the last couple hours of light open for us to explore the area around camp. We crossed the river and climbed a faint trail to a heiau (sacred Hawaiian burial ground) and then proceeded to a clearing which offered almost 360 degree views. From here we watched the sun set over the northwestern-most point of the island while enjoying the quickly changing shadows on the pali. We descended to our camp in near darkness, crossed the stream and collapsed in our tents after an intensely satisfying day.

The next day dawned clear, cool and beautiful. We made breakfast and pressed strong coffee to jumpstart our day. With only day packs on our back (a great relief from fully-loaded backpacks), we crossed Kalalau stream and finished the last mile of the Kalalau trail to the beach. While lounging on the beach, I found myself facing the backdrop of peaks and spires rather than the ocean with its picture perfect aqua and foam barrels.

As if our setting wasn't satisfactory, we explored along the beach and were not disappointed. When we walked to the westernmost edge of the beach where the rocks met the sea, we timed our scramble perfectly to reach another small beach backed by a large sea cave. We barely noticed the two naked people relaxing at the water's edge. The cave was about 50 feet wide by 100 feet deep and partially contained a calm, but frequently refreshed pool. Knowing the tide was rising, we took our time to enjoy, thinking that being stuck here for 6 hours would hardly be the worst thing that could happen.

We departed for the main beach before our window of opportunity closed. I relaxed in the shade of the cliffs while Tyler caught a few waves with the community surfboard. After awhile, we visited the waterfall which drops into the valley about 50 yards from the beach and serves as Kalalau's freshwater shower. I encountered a friend of a friend and talked awhile about our experiences in Kalalau and various places around Kauai.

Lunch at our beautiful campsite was followed by a foray deep into Kalalau valley to find the legendary hippie community. After several wrong turns and running into many colorful characters, we headed up the valley only to find that the hippie commune was just that - mostly legend. The people that do live in Kalalau are located closer to the beach. One pillar of the Kalalau community was Patrick, a fellow who'd spent most of the past 15 years residing there. We conversed with him in the area of Sacred Stone, one of the few areas in the valley with 360 degree views. We also encountered a small group of guys enjoying one of the "fruits" of Kalalau valley and gaining enlightenment in a sweat lodge. Later, we were invited to hang out at the the "Sanctuary", the tarp village they called home. Wandering the valley, I couldn't help but feel like Alice in Wonderland. When we returned to camp to make dinner, I felt like I'd had one of the wildest, weirdest, most intensely exciting days of my life. Little did I know that a few hours later I'd be following the sound of a tom-tom along the trail with no lights under the moonless sky to check out the Sanctuary - very Lord of the Flies. By the time we returned to camp, we'd hiked nearly 10 miles again.

The Sanctuary

Views from the valley

NaPali sunset

Bedtime was fairly early knowing that we had another 10 mile hike ahead of us. We awakened in the dark to hit the trail by 6:30 and were greeted my a beautiful sunrise over the NaPali coast. Every time we looked the cliffs appeared differently with the sun throwing beams at an ever-changing angle. Oddly enough, I felt invigorated after our many miles of hiking and kept a speedy pace along the trail while relishing the early morning light.

Descending into Hanakapiai valley was culture-shock. Screaming kids, crowds, sunburnt tourists asking inane questions - it seemed too much after two full days of beauty and serenity. The last two miles to the trailhead were hell as I leapfrogged the inexperienced tourist hikers along the trail and made my way toward a shower and cold drink. Cool, freshwater showers at Ke'e beach were better than I could have imagined as were the cold drinks on the way back to civilization. Even by the time I arrived home, my brain was in a tailspin so my discussion with Em of all that had happened was less than succinct. Nonetheless, it must have been enough to entice her, because less than 2 months later she was on the trail with me...coming soon to http://drgebs.blogspot.com/2009/05/simply-put-best-hike-ever-part-2-of-2.html