W is for Waterfalls @ Life is Good

One of my favorite vacations was the one The Engineer and I took with Sissie and Schedule Man to Kauai, Hawaii. My sis and her hubby have vacationed on Kauai since they got married. We joined them on their annual trip in 1996. It was a trip to remember. A trip where we saw many spectacular waterfalls.

Kauai has a LOT of rain. I looked it up, over 40 inches annually is normal, and one year they got 480 inches. Thankfully, this rain does not interfere with plans at all, since we experienced it coming only in the mornings as were getting ready for the day. I could gaze out the inland window and see many waterfalls each morning, as I enjoyed the breeze from the lanai side. Did you see Jurassic Park? Parts of it were filmed in Kauai, and when we took our helicopter tour (thanks again, sis, never would have afforded it, the treat was awesome)we flew over the waterfall that is in the opening sequence. 

 The helicopter pilot even played the soundtrack song. Throughout our ten day stay, we saw many more absolutely gorgeous waterfalls. But the one I want to tell you about is on the Kalalau trail. I swam though it.

For those of you not familiar with this trail, go here. We set out in the morning, 

going through terrain such as this. 

And this.

Here's the view, looking back at our starting beach (Ke'e), after many switchbacks. We had not planned to hike the full eleven miles, but to stop for lunch at a popular resting place. 

At that stop, that switchback view was now this.

And here's our destination waterfall. Look closely, the people are very small in this shot.

After we were done eating, Schedule Man, The Engineer, and I set off. We wanted to swim through the waterfall, and climb the rocks in the cave on the other side. (Sissie is quite adventurous, as in she'll goes skydiving, but this was a bit out of her comfort zone.) I can't even begin to describe the sheer delight of that curtain of bliss falling on my head. It had been a tough climb, with lots of elevation gain, and lots of finding your own footholds in places most people wouldn't dream of walking. We were hot. As I swam through that deluge of delight, I giggled. On the other side, we sat on rocks and smiled.

Unlike the water we'd experienced at the beach, this was FRIGID. But oh so refreshing. Inside the cave we experienced an awesome stillness. Of course we could still hear the falls tumbling down, but it was almost as if we were in a bubble of our own solitude, and those falls somewhere outside. Our voices didn't seem to carry, but just reach our circle, and then stay. Secretly. Sitting there, making plans for the evening, and cataloging our bruises, scrapes, bug bites, and sunburn, we were in our own world.  And as we made our way back to the other side of the pool and joined Sissie, and other hikers, we left that world reluctantly behind.

Down was of course easier, and a good thing, too. Tired, sore, spent, and thirsty, we eagerly ran into the waves at Ke'e beach, 

conveniently right there at the trailhead. Bliss. And that wonderful accomplished feeling of physically dead tired, but mentally and spiritually, so renewed. I wish you the same experience some day.

(Images from google.  My own pictures aren't digital.  But come on over and I'll show you one of the few adventures I've managed to scrapbook.)

This is an Alphabe-Thursday post with our teacher, the fab Ms. Jenny Matlock.  Check out the other great posts featuring the letter W.