Pololu
March, 2012
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The road around the north end of the big island
comes to an abrupt end a thousand feet above the ocean.
Don't take your land yacht there.
The terrain changes from the green rolling hills
and low angle lava flows of the western slopes
to steep rocky cliffs dropping to the ocean.
The valleys between are steep and covered with dense vegetation,
a tropical rainforest / jungle.
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| The Coast at Pololu |
There is a short, steep trail
that leads down to the beach at Pololu.
It was drizzling when we got there;
mist shrouded the coast looking southeast,
so we could only see the first point.
There was a sign saying it was dangerously slippery when wet,
hazardous, strenuous, life-threatening cliffs,
and probably man-eating lizards;
the usual stuff to avoid all possible litigation
and discourage everyone from going.
We decided to hike down anyway.
We changed from sandals to hiking boots and found a walking stick for Dona.
As at many places on the north part of big island,
the lava has been ground up over the ages
and carried down the streams to settle out on the delta where they meet the ocean,
resulting in a wonderful beach of black sand.
It's impossible to resist the urge to be a kid again,
to cast away your shoes,
roll up your pants,
and go exploring.
The sand is fine,
oozing wonderfully around your toes when the waves recede
and eat out little pockets at the sides of your feet.
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| Looking Southeast at Pololu |
Looking North |
It's possible to camp at Pololu,
and there is room on the hillside on the southeast side.
Only an idiot would camp on the nice beach or the flat ground nearby,
as a flash flood would definitely wipe you out.
They've obviously happened more than once,
and with clouds hanging in the uplands all the time,
it's not like you can pretend it's a remote possibility.
The camp isn't above the tsunami zone,
but you can't have everything...
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There's a nice grove of trees where the stream that tumbles down from the highlands
finally makes its way out to the ocean.
It's flat, inviting, and has a nice swing.
You really do want to camp there,
or at least stay long enough to have a fire, roast some brats,
and tell stories about ghosts and flash floods and surfing
and Audrey Sutherland.
Look her up.
What you read will inspire you and make you feel inadequate.
When she started exploring the coast,
she didn't have a boat.
Her first sea exploration was by swimming from one beach
around the rocky point to the next one,
towing her gear wrapped up in a weather baloon
with a few more layers around it.
She's now in her nineties,
and there's a wonderful article about her in a Delta flight magazine,
but their dumb PR department doesn't put those things on the web.
But here's
a sample,
from a rather dated article in the
Juneau Empire.
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| The aluvial plain at Pololu. |
The Swing |
Dona |
All too soon, it was time to hike back out.
Damn.
I wished for nicer weather,
a body board or a surfboard,
and another week of time.
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| Pololu Valley |
Dona, hiking out |
As we were hiking out,
the results of rain higher up the mountain soon became evident.
Numerous waterfalls were cascading down the cliffs to the southeast;
there had been none when we hiked down.
The weather was clearing up a bit,
but the after-affects of the earlier rain
were only now manifesting themselves.
A reminder of why not to camp in that inviting grove of trees by the beach.
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| Looking Southeast |
Waterfalls |
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| Pololu Valley |
Then we scraped the mud off our boots,
turned the buggy around,
and headed for a brief time back to the drier side of the island.
We would be going through the
Kohala ranching country.
