The island of Kauai

 The clouds were heavy on the island of Kauai as we left for Waimea Canyon, often called the Grand Canyon of Hawaii.  We found the turnoff to the canyon and joined a line of cars which was soon bumper to bumper crawling up the narrow road in pea soup fog.  The road continued to rise and if anything the fog got heavier.  We twisted and turned slowing to a near crawl of ten miles an hour, not having a clue how far we had to go, not having any idea of what was beyond the edge of the road, not having any idea of the path the road ahead would follow.  Our only awareness in the fog was the bumper of the car a few feet in front of us.  The bumper led us to a parking area where people were parking so we did the same.  We joined the rest of the visitors in a forlorn walk towards a purported overlook.  It was less than 100 yards to the overlook according to people returning so we went too.  We reached a barrier and looked out our ten feet or so, saw nothing but white, and returned to the car.  We laughed at the absurdity of all the people, including us, knowing that the visit to the overlook would prove fruitless but doing it anyway.  We had all driven up the mountain, we might as well look.  We got in our car and drove away, sad we had failed to see the supposedly spectacular canyon.  Such was our trip thirty years ago, on our only other trip to the Hawaiian islands and our only other attempt to see Waimea Canyon.

Not this time.  We had secured a rental car which we had to pick up at the airport.  Once upon a time they ran a shuttle to the cruise pier for just such situations.  Not any more.  We tried to hook up with Uber but there were no cars available.  Sort of validates the Sunday decision to walk instead of depend on Uber at 6:00 in the morning.  We did find a cab and got to the airport to collect our car.  Have I mentioned how slow rental car companies seem to be?  This was no different.  We finally got off to Waimea Canyon on a mostly sunny day.  Speed limit was 50 or less.  Once we turned off the main highway the road narrowed considerably and had no shoulders, the posted speed limit went down to 25, and we followed a winding and very up and down course for the next forty-five minutes.  The scenery we had missed thirty years ago proved to be spectacular.  You drive up, it’s another volcano crater after all, with the river valley on your right.  We stopped to view the valley on the way up.  The river cut the canyon, and combined with the collapse of a portion of the crater created a truly remarkable spectacle.  We arrived at the first canyon overlook parking area and found a spot the second time around.  This was to become a theme at all the lookouts we chose to stop at as we often had to take several rounds of the filled parking lots to find a spot.  We walked our hundred yards to the overlook and there it was.  The colors catch your attention first.  They jump out at you.   The size is difficult to grasp but you read the sign that tells you the waterfall in the distance drops some 800 feet and looks like it only gets 1/3 to ½ way down.  Then you see the pretty constant train of helicopters passing your viewpoint looking like a helicopter and which shortly look like mosquitos as they do flybys of the falls and you get a sense of the scale.  We visit several more viewpoints, but the best one is that first lookout because of the direction of the sun.  We continue on to the end of the road, almost having our entire car eaten by a couple of seriously huge potholes.  The end of the road was a little over 4000 feet high with a sign which I guess pointed to a peak Wai’ale’ale a bit over 5000 feet which is one of the wettest spots on Earth with annual average rainfall of about 500 inches or nearly 42 feet of rain.  The first viewpoint has a nice observation deck with railings.  Walking up the dirt trail a little ways you discover that you can walk right up to the edge with no barriers whatsoever, looking from our perch essentially straight down the 4000+ feet to sea level.  I don’t know if my stomach used to turn at these situations as much as it seems to now.  Perhaps I haven’t experienced a four thousand foot drop from a somewhat muddy and possibly slippery trail.  It is pretty impressive, and it is stunningly beautiful.  We turned around and drove back to Lihue, the largest enclave on this island and where the airport was and where the cruise ship was parked.  We spent way too much time looking for a bank and a gas station and then trying to get back to the ship.  You don’t really need to hear the details.  Let’s just say it took way too long and was somewhat frustrating.  It was still a great day and a wonderful improvement over thirty years ago.