We planned in a week in advance. An early morning rise. Though not as early as Camden and I had driven through the night. Awake at 6:30 A.M. I regretted being awake. The previous night I stayed up relatively late. Played a game of pool with my friend Graham that’s been in town. Packing my gear while my coffee brews, I’m barely awake. We all seemed to sleep in a bit. Camden, Forest, Graham, and I throw our tired bodies into the Tacoma. Mele excitedly jumps around in the bed of the truck. We leave later than originally planned, but all is well. I don’t mind at all. Today’s goal is to hike from Pololu valley to the third valley, the so-called HonoKane Iki valley. I don’t usually make note of the Hawaiian names of things, but lately have felt it’s the right thing to do. I have my drone, and camera along. I wanted to bring my FPV setup but unfortunately, I think I killed my GoPro.
It’s the clearest that I’ve seen in some time. Hardly a cloud in the sky, not a bit of cover. Good for viewing, not so good for hiking amongst the valleys. But we aren’t there yet. We stop for coffee in Hawi. Coffee is once again mandatory so everyone except Camden gets out of the truck. This was good because while getting out for coffee Mele decided to attempt an escape, and given that her leash was tied to the bed she risked hurting herself… My fault. I didn’t tell her to stay and give her the hand signal. Usually she is good, but this is also her first time riding in the back of a truck bed. I think she learned her lesson… It’s been good getting to know these guys more and more over the last year or so. We’ve all been sort of distant for one reason or another. Graham’s presence on the property is one that brings appreciation to life. It’s the people that don’t make you try that are a blessing given. It’s those that resonate and don’t force the situations, those that don’t mind being alone, yet enjoy being around. It’s difficult to come by people that don’t always need to be entertained. We joke, we tell stories and in between, there are talks of golden nuggets. But like all good things. I’ve learned they must all go.
We arrive at Pololu Valley. Change into our hiking attire. I get Mele set up with her water on her dog vest. She carries her own weight. Much like the hike with Camden from South Point to the caldera, I vaguely understand what I am getting myself into. My original understanding was that this was a 4-mile round trip hike, but I was soon to be corrected by circumstance. The hike down to Pololu seems much shorter than I recall from the times that I had done it in previous years. perhaps it was the tiredness and rush of two cups of strong coffee, either way, I just remember looking down at my feet floating over the dusty slopes and then looking up to the pine-ridden soft dirt to the entrance of the seaside. Traveling the first valley with no stop we all begin our first rise beyond where I personally have been. I recall Forest saying that the last time he had been to where we are headed was around 2-3 years ago. As we pass by the large trees and berms I recall the first times that I had been down in Pololu. First with my family for a random day hike, the second camping with my stepbrother Luke during a high wind advisory to camp. Listening to the trees smack violently above our heads like thunder, wondering if a widowmaker would crash down upon our tent and end this life. None the less I’m still here. for now.
Back to the hike. It’s hellishly hot with the humidity. Hawaii’s humidity is unforgiving coming from Arizona. But I’m sure that I was the least to suffer. With no clouds to cover from the intense sun, we were sure to cook for a bit until we got to the more dense jungle-like terrain. The first part of the hike is easy… in fact, I don’t remember it being as short as it seemed. I remember picking my eyes up from watching the path and noticing that I had already arrived at the beach entrance. A few surfers leave the beach as we carry on to the first ascent to the peak of the next valley. I have never been past Pololu, nonetheless beyond a certain point on the beach. Just never wandered very far here. I let go of Mele’s leash now that we are headed to the territory where not many people will be hiking. Her excitement is immediately noticed as she recognizes that she is free to roam where she pleases. The E collar is an excellent tool for a dog that likes to do its own thing. I’m sweating heavily already as we make our way up. The sun beats down between the trees with no remorse. We reach the peak of the next valley where a bench awaits for our rest. I capture a few snapshots with my phone and camera. Contemplate busting out the drone and getting some shots, but it’s very bright and I figure I will have a better position when we arrive at our final destination. I take note of how much water and am already glad that I brought two extra water bottles. Graham is not digging the heat and humidity. He’s just not acclimated to this humidity. After maybe 15 minutes of rest, we carry on. The trees eventually provide more cover, but the next fun challenge comes quickly. The loose sand-like ground on somewhat steep slopes. I lost traction a few times and had to catch myself from slipping down the valley wall. We arrive at a part of the trail that is very steep, so steep that someone had tied some ropes to assist in getting down. Not quite like rappeling, but was still fun nonetheless. Especially while keeping Mele from going down too fast and losing control. Next is some really interesting dense bamboo with a narrow path that goes through it. The temperature difference within the bamboo was incredible. A nice break between the beating sun. My boots are soaked from crossing a flowing stream with not so stable rocks to cross over. Helicopters fly overhead giving tours to see the waterfalls. It’s cool to see them level with the peaks of the valley and so close. There’s so much I haven’t seen on this island, so much to probably be discovered as well. I hope that I can continue my streak of exploring something new every week.
More ropes greet us about halfway up the next ascent. Not to help us vertically, but to keep from slipping off the edge as we move forward. The ground is very loose. Mele navigates just fine though. I’m wishing I ate more of a solid breakfast besides coffee and half a bagel. Nothing too exciting really happens on the rest of the hike. Just lots of hiking and sweating. Some laughs and stories here and there. We enter the valley we intended to get to and it’s a lot smaller than I had anticipated. There is a cabin close to the beach and then the wild ultra-fine black sand beach. I put down my bag and get a drink of water. Mele goes running towards the beach and supermans into the waves. She must have been just as hot as us, especially with her pack and carrying her own water. She runs the beach end to end, stopping here and there to roll around in the sand. Forest goes to the stream to get cooled off and take some time. Camden checks out the interesting lava walls that have been cut deep at the bottom by the constant bombardment from the ocean. Graham takes a rest on the bluff looking out over the beach. I’m amazed at how fine the sand is on the beach. When you pick it up it’s almost like mud. My stomach begins to tell me it’s time to eat. I had packed all of us salami wraps. Graham ate his in the car and was feeling not so great. So I shared one of mine. Now is the time to start flying the drone. The wind isn’t too strong and it seems the helicopter traffic has sort of quieted down. I get some shots of the valley, beach and attempt to fly out to the two small islands that sit offshore further down the valley chain, but the valley’s wall blocks the signal from me getting as close as I would like. I still got some cool shots though. I’ll launch from a better vantage point with a direct line of sight on the hike back. I kept waiting for one of those touring helicopters to pop out of nowhere and I would have to dodge that hazard. Never happened though.
We lurk around on the beach for about 3 hours or so. Camden and I scoped out the stream flowing from the depths of the valley. Little black tadpoles glide back and forth. Alien like… The water is very cold and refreshing. I was tempted to throw my swim shorts on and jump in the ocean, then rinse off in the cold stream. But decided not to. Going from the cold stream water to the ocean made the ocean water feel like a warm bath. I lay down on the ground with my camera pack as a pillow and try to take a nap before the hike back. Drifted in and out of vaguely sleeping. I sit up and see that Forest and Graham had also laid down for a brief nap. Mele had wandered off to who knows where. I call her back with the E collar. it’s about 2:30 or so and I get somewhat bored. Finding a bunch of coconut husks and spent coconuts I have some fun with the dog throwing the coconuts like tennis balls for her to fetch. She rips apart the husks like a chew toy. She’s always loved chewing things up. Around 3:00 we decide to pack up and hit the trail back. The temperature is definitely cooler, but the humidity seems worse. When we get to the top of the valley I take out the drone and do a solid flight out to the islands rising out of the sea. It’s exciting to explore a place with a drone that is not easily accessible. I capture some good footage on a few passes then get curious to get closer. There is a huge cave that goes through the smaller island. Due to it being behind the larger island I can only get so close because of reception issues. I notice that my drone’s remote controller battery is very low. I forgot to charge it the night before… Still plenty of flight time, but I don’t want to risk it. I use one battery and call it good. Besides I didn’t feel like hiking back in the dark.
Camden was walking ahead of me on part of the trail and we both noticed that one of the ropes to assist in crossing a sketchy part of the trail was barely tied on. We both looked at each other and said “Sketchy”. Camden properly ties the rope to the tree and we head-on. Mele tracks on like it’s nothing. Back at the bench, we take another long break which was highly necessary. My hat was soaked, my jeans nearly drenched and everyone worn out. Camden and I talk about the islands for a bit. I notice they are very similar in shape, yet different in size. Camden has the thought that maybe it was a very old caldera that has just been worn out over years and years of water erosion. Good theory. I wonder if it’s true. They do look like they could have been one at a point in time. Soon enough we get back at it to tackle the last descent before near the end of this hike. We ended up behind some other people that had hiked to the bench. Forest was in the lead with Graham behind him. They spot a shortcut and I hear Graham say ” Yup, do it”. It’s pretty steep with loose dirt. In my head, I think “Well one of us is going down on this.” Sure enough it’s me… I lose traction and begin to slide. I put my hand down and feet outward, but don’t go down all the way so I basically surfed down the shortcut. Graham sarcastically yells “Don’t worry Chris I’ll catch you!”. I laugh and eventually gain traction again. Camden laughs and said something along the lines of “Nice man, you basically surfed that whole thing.” At least it wasn’t on one of the areas with no return.
Tiredness begins to hit me. I can tell Mele is starting to get tired as well. On the final ascent out of Pololu, she begins to slow down and wants to stop more often. I have to give her a bit of motivation with her leash to get her to follow. We stop at one of the lookout points to watch the surfers. Out of nowhere a small rat dog starts barking at Mele, its owner up the hill aways. A funny sight to see a guy with a goat and a small rat dog. The goat had a pack on it loaded up. Never seen that out here before. I’m sure they’re great to help pack stuff like that though… Finally, we reach the top of the parking lot and we take refuge on the asphalt and rockwall. Graham seems to be hurting something fierce and apparently has heat exhaustion. Throwing off our gear into the truck was a relief. Another adventure completed. More footage was captured. New memories made. Until next time.