The Greatest Adventure

On July 25, 2015, I set out on the most important hike of my life. While on a trip to the island of Oahu to visit extended family, my insatiable need for adventure lead me to the Ka'au Crater Trailhead. At 5am, my girlfriend, Lilianne, and I headed down the rabbit hole. We had read all of the trail information and disclaimers. We understood what we were getting into. This still did not prepare us for the adventure that lie ahead.

The initial rock scramble had us both giddy like children climbing trees, and between the mist and first light of dawn, it created a magical environment. Our trail was marked with pink ribbon and was easy enough to follow along the winding stream. We quickly became accustomed to the mud as we slipped up and down small banks and rock-hopped across the trickling water. At this point the mist had not let up and the first doubts of our accomplishments started creeping in.

We came upon the mystical water pipe. From what I had read, the pipe would lead us directly to the first of the three waterfalls. As we continued to gain elevation, it became quite apparent that our footwear was failing us. Even the Merrell hiking shoes we brought did not have enough traction on the steep, muddy slopes. With the pipe on our left and a seemingly endless, forested chasm to our right, each unsteady step felt like it could end in disaster. Our initial excitement began to drain to fear. What had we gotten ourselves into?

It was at this time that through the mist appeared a white, fluffy puppy. Lilianne and I looked at each other in silence. The dog stopped after making eye contact with us and turned around. Surely, the first hours of the trail had left us halucinating already. Quickly a girl rounded the corner and apologized for her pet. We were sincerely happy the the dog was real and commented on the comedy of the situation. The group dropped behind us, and we opted for a fork in the trail that lead us to the top of the first waterfall. Happy to take a break, we dropped our packs and sat down.

We continued up the trail towards the next waterfall, only to find the mist turn into a more steady rain. From everything I had read, the trail could become dangerous in rainy conditions because of flash floods. More doubt continued to creep into my mind, but we continued up the side of the waterfall. The trail was steep, and the fixed ropes were helpful in manuevering up the terrain. We continued up and up and up, when I remembered the trail should have crossed the top of the waterfall. Surely, we were going the wrong way.

Scrambling up an almost vertical hill in muddy weather is quite exhilarating. Downclimbing the same slope is near ridiculous. Luckily, the group behind us had caught up and assisted in finding the correct traverse to the waterfall. A large boulder at the top of the 60 foot waterfall lended some confidence that we would not tumble over the edge. The plaque on the side of the boulder in honor of someone who did fall and lost their life quickly sucked all of that confidence away.

On the other side of the flowing water, we regained our composure and officially meet everyone in the other group of hikers. Learning that they have hiked this trail several times, we allowed them to lead us, hoping to avoid straying off trail again. Although we were far away from any aid, the safety in numbers mindset gave us some extra assurance. We continued up the trail, climbing higher up the valley, until we reached the third waterfall.

At a much lower incline than the first two, the third waterfall meandered up the hill for somewhere near a quarter mile with the trail zig zagging back and forth across it. The sun began to poke its head out and the higher we climbed, the better the weather seemed to get. Finally we topped out and began climbing a steeper trail above the waterfall leading to the rim of the crater. The group in front of us took the rim trail but promptly turned around to come back down. Lilianne and I decided to continue on and fight the muddy trail to the peak of the rim.

It was only at this time that I realized the final task at hand. We rounded the corner of the lookout and a clearing made for a perfect place to drop our bags and take a break. I imediately set up the tripod under the pretense that I would take some long exposure shots of the crater. The rain started moving in again, so I used my jacket to cover the camera. The time had come and I was not going to let the rain stop me.

I asked Lilianne to stand in place so that I could focus the camera for a portrait of us on the peak. I shuffled through my bag quickly. I knew exactly where to find the ring. Suddenly all the fear and doubts from the hike fell away. I asked her the most important question of my life and she said yes. We were going to get married.

After a couple minutes of embracing and I looked her deep into her tearful eyes and said, "we still have to get down." She laughed. We neatly packed our bags, and placed the ring safely back inside the case. We followed the muddy trail back down the slopes, slipping and sliding the whole way, but we were both smiling the entire time.

The Ka'au Crater Trail was undoubtably the wildest adventure I had ever been on, but at the top of that trail I would start the greatest adventure of my life with Lilianne.