In My Element

Actually, I probably couldn’t be more out of my element in such a beautiful place surrounded by nature. I’m very much a suburban boy. But standing in a waterfall is something I’ve always wanted to do. I mean, really – it’s like an orgy of rain, and you know how I am about rainfall. (When I go back and re-read some of my previous entries, it amazes me how preoccupied I seem to be with rainfall and its imagery.)

Our visit to Kauai was far too short. While my family went to play golf, I opted for a hike out to Princeville Ranch, a parcel of privately-owned land where the proprietors offer, amongst other things, hiking excursions through the rainforest-like terrain, through muddy gulches and groves of palms and walking trees too thick to see through. No wood I’ve ever walked through on the mainland ever looked so lively. All the gaudy mockups or scenic mimicry of jungle paradises in the themed vacation spots I’ve been to fall far short through no real fault of their own, for who could really duplicate something like this? You can recreate some of the look, but the moisture in the air and the rich but clean fragrance that permeates the air can’t quite be approximated. We hiked through winding trails too narrow to be called paths, through mud made of volcanic soil laden with water to the consistency of cake batter, over stones lit by rays of light threading their way through a canopy made of splaying palms, ferns and fruit trees.

The hike itself was supposed to be a difficult one by tourist standards, but it was barely enough to make a former resident of Berkeley’s Unit 4 Foothill break a sweat. My folks were off at the Kauai Marriott golf course, so I didn’t have to keep together with anyone in particular. I had a great time playing Wood Elf, standing easily on slippery terrain, walking lightly so as not to sink into the mud, and striding assuredly between the boulders and rocks rising from the currents of small rivers and streams. A constant exercise of poise and balance amongst lovely environs.

Of course, I suppose one of Tolkien’s wood elves would never have been bitten by so many mosquitoes. I react pretty badly to mosquito bites… no little bites for me, no sir. Every bite erupts into a huge swollen catastrophe, hard and red and anywhere from one to three inches across. One on my right forearm went so far as to hijack the entire range from wrist to elbow. I had a similar reaction to a mosquito bite a few years ago, which I showed to a classmate:

“Where is it? I don’t see it?”

“You’re looking too close. Stand back.”

“Whoa.”

I held up the forearm bite upon noticing it and showed it to my fellow hikers who had been complaining of bug bites of their own. Cue understated deadpan: “Well, here’s a pretty decent bug bite, no?” Astonished reactions ensued.

“Oh my god, are you allergic or something?”

“Not really, I just don’t get many bug bites back home, so I think my body’s just unused to them, that’s all. Oh, my virgin blood!”

“Does it itch?”

“Not as much as you’d think.”

*laughter* “Maybe it’ll itch more if we keep reminding him of it!”

“Well, the guide in Hilo did say that the locals tend to prefer Chinese food over the traditional fare…”

We reached the private waterfall after about two hours of hiking. The stream, clear and cold, poured down from fifty feet up to crash upon an array of smoothed rocks. Some of the older hikers waded right into the pool for a swim in waters that could only be described as brisk… we must have a few members of the Polar Bear Club in our group. Far too cold for me… I walked around the edge of the rockface to stand on the worn and pounded stones, letting the cold waters drench me from above. I looked out in front of me, a curtain of rushing water draped over the scenery like a passageway hung with strands of crystalline beads reflecting the sun. White mist lay suspended in the air, and the churning splash of the water dancing atop the rocks added a feeling of energy that mixed oddly with the cold. The trees framed pooling waters which fed another stream headed away from the falls, while ferns perched on the rock face unfurled their foliage in their ancient and curious manner. And over the roar of the water crashing down upon the rocks, I could hear the cheers and see the thumbs-ups offered by the other hikers for the guy crazy enough to stand straight and upright in a freezing waterfall.