Sunday, Feb 17, 2009

INTO THE VOID

Although it's Sunday, today's blog is about this past Friday. I'm just about recovered from it--and since it's still daylight, I have the energy to write about it.

Several weeks ago I mentioned that I was supposed to meet up with some other photographers and hike to Kaena Point, but no one showed up. I think I know why now. A friend and I decided to do this hike Friday, and planned to meet up here in Mililani (since it's on the way for him). He got lost!!! I was so happy to know that someone other than me gets lost. And he's been here for 18 months. The reason I even mention it is that we were supposed to meet at 9 am, but didn't meet until after 9:30 and by the time we got to the trailhead it was about 10:15.

Well that doesn't sound bad--not for hiking on the cool, tree covered paths of the Adirondacks, often accompanied by the soothing sounds of nearby streams. The opening photo of this blog shows you exactly what we faced. Not a cloud in the sky and not a piece of shade big enough to cool a hand, let alone an entire body.

Okay, so the admonition is: bring plenty of water, use sunscreen, wear a hat, don't hike in the middle of the day. I guess one out of four isn't bad. I had water, but not enough and at least I remembered to take an orange with me. One measly little orange. So there we are, beginning the trek around 10:30. I knew the walk would take about 1 1/2 hours (the guidebooks and other people said so), but neither of us knew exactly how far the walk would be. I found out after the fact that the trail is 2 1/2 miles each way. Our impeccable timing meant that we would be 2 1/2 miles away from anything at exactly HIGH NOON. Good planning.


The walking was pretty easy since the path was well-packed dirt. Not much elevation to deal with either. The ocean on our right was downright beautiful especially where it was crashing up against mounds of lava rocks.

Yes, the image above is the same as the image below. I accidentally uploaded it twice and for some reason this blog site won't let me delete anything.

Along the way we saw many tidepools. Some of them had tiny fish swimming in them, but otherwise there wasn't much that was outstanding about them. I decided to try and be creative with one, so here's a little zooming action. Conditions were so bright that I couldn't slow the camera down enough to get more zoom than this. At least I tried--before I got too hot and tired to care.

We also encountered several small groups of people fishing. Did I take photos of them? No! Why not? Beats me! These people drove in in 4-wheel drive vehicles. Now even though I said the walking was pretty easy, it was not exactly smooth going for vehicles. It reminded me of a children's roller-coaster. You know, a lot of little ups and downs and curves very close to each other. Now imagine that these ups and downs and curves were littered with potholes and very deep and mushy mud holes and you can imagine what it would be like for a jeep.

Well, we said hi and kept on going.

Just about 10-15 minutes from the end of the hike we could see a tower of some sort--again no photo--don't ask! We had been told that that was the end, so we were pretty happy. We encountered a barricade of rocks with an opening through which to climb. Guess they want to keep vehicles out. There were signs informing us that the remainder of the walk included protected areas for albatross that should not be disturbed. We did see a few in the grasses, but only their heads and some movement, so it wasn't worth trying to get a photo.

We finally reached the tower, tired, hot and hungry. The tower provided barely an iota of shade in which I sat as long as I could. Once in the shade, it was amazingly cooler. Below is what it looks like standing on almost the last of solid ground looking toward the ocean.

Turning around and looking back from whence we came, below is what we saw.

Someone or someones had the hutzpah to carry paint to this isolated spot of earth and paint this rock. Good for them.

After about 30-45 minutes of taking photos and trying to rest, we decided to head back. It was a pretty daunting thought for me. We had no choice but to get started putting one foot in front of the other. The wind was now at our backs so it wasn't as cooling as it had been before. We decided that we'd taken enough photos and that we wouldn't pause to take any on the way back. Sometimes we talked and sometimes we just truged along.

When we had walked about an hour, I decided that I was going to beg a ride from the driver of the next vehicle that came by. I said so to Len but I think he thought I was kidding. I wasn't! I was really beginning to fade fast--light-headed, queasy, etc. So, seeing a small truck approach, I got right in the road--he stopped--"Do you think you could give us a ride to the parking area, we'd be glad to give you some money". "No. I don't think I have enough room. " I was speechless. I said, "okay, thanks anyway." I didn't know whether to laugh at the absudity of it, or cry out of frustration. Both Len and I thought he was kidding when he first said no, but guess he wasn't.

The next vehicle that came by (something like an SUV) was driven by a young couple who had been fishing. The back seat was filled with all their fishing gear and a cute dog. So I asked if they could give us a ride, they looked back at the filled back seat, I started playing with the dog through the window and the guy got out to clear out the back seat. Awesome. Angels in disguise. As I was smooching over this cute dog, I asked what kind it was. Only a pit bull. Okay! So here we climb into the back seat with a pit bull. You know that saying, "beggars can't be choosers"? Pretty true!

I was never so glad to see my car and sit down. That didn't end my day. But the rest of the story is for another posting.

Aloha!