WATERFALL ADVENTURE

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I like to talk a lot about adventure but I have to admit, I tend to use the term loosely. I spend a lot of time following the adventures of others and then going where they’ve been to check it out for myself. But, if it’s all been mapped out and researched prior to boots on the ground, is it really an adventure? Real adventure comes from the unknown. The uncharted territory. The fear juxtaposed against the call. The ups, the downs, and the uncovering.

I knew we were hiking to a waterfall and that was about it. We found the trail along with one photo in a blog post and decided to give it a try. This wasn’t one of those Kauai must-sees all over the gram. It was something you had to work for… a well-kept secret.

We had evening plans for a NaPali boat tour and I was in a white swimsuit. This hike was a pitstop. Chad swore it would be simple.

We got to the trailhead pretty early and were surprised to find another couple hopping out of their rental. We gave them a little hiker nod while we got our bags ready. It’s a weird thing to be somewhere so isolated yet right on top of others, so we stalled a little to put some distance between us on the map. About ten minutes later, we were on our way.

The trail was totally flat, mostly dry, and surprisingly well defined for as little publicity as it had. I was expecting to feel lost from the beginning but that was definitely not the case. Yet. The heat is always a factor in Hawaii but it was nice and cool this morning and we were headed into the jungle. We felt fresh!

Soon we came to a little stream crossing situation. No biggie, we’ve crossed bigger. We hopped on the rocks and made it to the other side where there was a fallen tree. Chad went over and I went under. We paused for a sec to confirm the trail and carried on. There was supposed to be a “bamboo forest” coming up that I was excited to see. We walked over gnarly knobs and twisty roots under a canopy of green.

Another pause to relocate the trail.

We continued dipping under and hopping over fallen logs and rocks and started to go uphill a little. Were we even on a trail anymore? I stopped and looked around. I couldn’t really see a defined path but I could tell people had been here. We checked our map. It seemed off, but at the same time, it seemed right. Up ahead we could hear the other couple talking so we used their voices as trail confirmation and continued up the hill.

Now there was a pretty clear path of dirt cut through tall grass. Phew. I thought we were getting lost. And then, there they were…the couple from this morning, just ahead. They yelled back to us “We think this is the right way but we’re not sure!”

We yelled back, “Yeah, this looks right!"

But it didn’t look right. Not to me. Why were we headed uphill? And further away from the stream? The stream has to be flowing from our destination and now we were so far from it we couldn’t even hear it anymore. I started to argue with Chad. Where was he leading us!? I was not okay with getting lost in the jungle. Up a few more rocks and we were at the top of the hill we’d been climbing. And there was the other couple turning around. Dead end. We were going the wrong way. We all laughed it off in a quick chat and started back down. We knew we needed to get back to the stream so we headed right.

Halfway down we saw a sort of fork in our path. A suggested route through tall grass where it looked like others had slid down hanging onto roots. Realistically this route looked way too steep to be part of the trail but Chad said we should just take it as a short cut. At the end of the day it was leading in the right direction. I was super annoyed but I went first. I grabbed for roots and slid my way down…reaching the bottom with muddy knees, and muddy hands. What the heck!

About 50 more feet and we were back at the stream. So to be fair, Chad was right about the short cut. We crossed and continued on our way. Sooooooo many rocks and stumps and fallen trees. We were zigzagging all over the place and I was getting mud everywhere. I wanted to see this waterfall but I was not happy. This trail was absolutely ridiculous. I looked down the rest of the way to focus on the technicality of it and kept my mouth shut. You can’t complain when you’re in Hawaii!

The rest of the hike was a blur of mud and gymnastics.

Probably about an hour and a half in, I started to hear the surge of falls in the near future. Then echoing hollers, laughs and splashing water.

The other couple had reached the waterfall. I started to get excited. We made it!

As we closed in on it, the trees began to part and clear out. The waterfall cut through the mountains in a double tier of beauty. Nature at its best, with a VIP pool for the trail’s finalists.

The water was…invigorating. Knee-deep was about the best I could do, but the ice bath at the bottom didn’t stop Chad from climbing up and cannon-balling in over and over like a five year old until his body was pretty much numb. But that’s the beauty of these things, and that’s what we’re after. The ability to channel your inner-child again. To truly live in the moment without a care in the world. The playful authenticity of a waterfall swim is something we just can’t turn down.

We had this place virtually to ourselves for about 30 minutes before another couple showed up. These were really the only people we had crossed paths with along the way. Unless you’re a local or a native with free rein of the land and all the time in the world to explore…I would say it’s a rarity to have such exclusive access to a such a gem. For this we were extremely thankful.

We made it back in about half the time, with a fifth of the mud and zero gymnastics.

How could that be!? Because we were literally never on the trail. We carved our own way the whole way there.

This became almost hilariously evident as we made our way through the bamboo forest we’d never found, and were spit out on the banks of the stream, about 20 yards right, of where we’d lost our way.

So I can proudly call this one an adventure.