This was a terrible adventure reading experience.
It wasn't the fault of either the place or the book.
It's this wave's fault:
Or, more accurately, it's my fault. (I was the one filming.)
Three days earlier, we had "played" in the waves on Maui's Kaanapali Beach by letting them crush us over and over in spectacular ways.
The wave picked me up and hurled me earthward. The world dissolved into that familiar chaotic swirl of sand and salt water that rushed into my nose and mouth as I surrendered to the tumble. This time, however, I landed badly.
My back arched until my spine felt like it was about to snap in two. Whelp, there goes my lower back.
But I wasn't about to let that spoil my fun, and I wasn't about to return to Kauai without a new hike under my belt.
I was optimistic when Nash and I crept out to the car before sunrise, leaving my family sleeping. "It's going to be fine!" I told myself.
The Place: Pihea Trail
My rating: 3/5
We drove all the way to Pu‘u o Kila Lookout, at the very end of Kokee road on the western side of Kauai. We made sure to stop at Waimea Canyon along the way.
I still think the hike would have been fine, had it not rained recently and turned the trail into a sludgepile of mud.
This wasn't normal mud. It was like someone had stirred up oil and soap and greasy banana peels into a deadly red-orange gloop.
Imagine this turned into an ice skating rink. Also, that's my dad pretending to go on a hike.
Without my lower back muscles to stabilize me, I whoomphed onto my butt over and over again. It only jarred my back further, until I was practically in tears. But once I start something, I get in my head that giving up would reveal what a wimpy failure I am.
At least there were views of the Nā Pali coast's jagged cliffs to distract me. It felt like a dinosaur was going to jump out the trees and attack at any moment, but I knew I was just suffering from Jurassic Park flashbacks. Dinosaurs are extinct. :(
When the back spasms got too strong, I paused to read while Nash urged me to turn back.
The Book: Moloka'i by Alan Brennert.
My Rating: 4/5
This historical fiction is vivid imagining of the lives of the leprous outcasts at Kalaupapa settlement on Moloka'i in the late 1800s and the people who helped care for them.
Photo of Father Damien with Moloka'i Kalawao Girls Choir, credit Henry L. Chase circa 1878 via Wikimedia, CC
It follows the story of Rachel Kalama, who dreams of sailing around the world like her father until her life turns upside-down when she signs of leprosy at the age of seven.
The misfortunes piled on Rachel and her companions are exhausting. But the book's emphasis on the whole triumph-of-the-human-spirit-over-adversity theme keeps it from being too depressing (just barely).
I learned so much about Hansen's disease and the nerve-damaging bacteria that causes it. For instance, did you know that it's only mildly contagious and 95% of the population has a natural immunity? It's terrifying how our fears can trample others' lives.
But at this moment, I was dealing with my own fear of failure.
"Rachel's suffering is much worse than a tweaked-out back," I thought delusionally. "I can keep going!"
Never mind the fact that the hike was an arbitrary goal I set for myself... I pressed on.
Nash led the way through the mud with exaggerated marching steps. Eventually, we turned left onto the Alaka'i Swamp Trail. The boardwalks over the marshland were a merciful relief. This otherworldly "alpine bog" is often shrouded in mist, since it's one of the wettest parts of the planet, but this day was almost oppressively sunny.
When we finally made it to Kilohana Lookout, I was ready to read in silence for a good long while. But not twenty minutes passed before two guys showed up, talking loudly.
"Let's go," Nash whispered.
"No!" I snapped at him. "I didn't get the picture I wanted because you were standing in the way!"
It was one of the bitchiest moments of my life. I wished I could inhale the words back in - I didn't even know what I meant by them!
I fumbled with my cell phone to snap the usual reading photo, fuming at myself, before I clambered painfully to my mud-soaked feet to hike the four miles back out.
When I look at that photo now (the one at top), I can still see the beauty of Hawaii's Garden Isle and recall the poignancy of the lepers' situation.
But mostly, I'm reminded of how my stubbornness turned me into a monster. On that day, my human spirit did not triumph.
A side note: Before you ever do this hike, I recommend you head to Kauai's world-famous Kalalau Trail. If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of permitting and gear for the full 22-mile round-trip venture, then the side trail to swim under the 300-foot-tall Hanakapi’ai falls makes for a spectacular day hike.
I hiked part of the Kalalau Trail with my mom on the previous trip - go Mom!Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to participate in my favorite hobby, just go someplace and read and post about your experience under the tag #adventurereading.
- Katie, @therovingreader