The Durian Apocalypse

Next to The Spitting Cave, the Ka’ena point hike was my second-favourite feature of Oahu. While the rest of the family spent the day (the last for the Oregon contingent) snorkeling the North Shore, I went in for this somewhat rugged, seriously spectacular (what turned out to be) eleven-mile jaunt.

Ka’ena is the western-most point of the island, accessible either from the east or from the south, only by foot. The terrain ranges from majestic Palis…

…to roaring, roiling surf pounding the rocky shore…

…to a beautiful desolation one might term “moonscape-ish”…

…to (believe it or not) dunes.

Met a guy, at the point itself, who was that day traversing the penultimate leg of a ten-mile project to hike every inch of the Oahu coastline. Not sure why it should have taken so long, but that leaves as his final leg the one I had just completed (which was, natch, the first patch of Oahuan coast I’d ever trod). Go figure.

But mostly, do go up to the northwestern corner of the island and give this one a shot. You’ll be glad you did.

One could do a helluva lot worse than The Spitting Cave! At any rate, it was the coolest sight that I did see.

We had set out for the snorklers’ paradise of Hanuama Bay, whose parking lot was full before we arrived. Thwarted, we instead chose to look in upon what the guidebook conveniently left on the dinner table of our rental house names one of the island’s “Hidden Gems”.

It certainly is hidden. Only a small sign declaring “Beach Access”, inconspicuously located at the end of a cul-de-sac deep into the back streets of a residential neighbourhood, reveals a quite steep and, indeed, somewhat treacherous trail leading down to the lookout point.

Once off the trail, and onto the layers of volcanic rock which form the seaside cliff, one at least is privileged to witness the impossibly beautiful blue water and the furiously pounding surf which form the cave’s milieu.

The cave itself – a sort horizontal blow-hole occasionally activated by some trick of geometry and tidal forces – is, while certainly nice enough, actually (leastways in this particular observer’s estimation) kinda insignificant in comparison with its environs.

Photographs couldn’t possibly do justice to a sight whose breathtaking majesty possibly (I say possibly) surpasses even the Grand Canyon of The Yellowstone. Nevertheless, here are a few, taken both on this day, and during a subsequent visit a few days later. As always, more pics at my Flickr site.

Huhn. I notice that I didn’t even snap any photos of the Cave’s spittings! Ah, well; guess that’ll have to wait ‘til the next visit…

I like to visit Montana in early July because it’s usually dead-slow at work, and because that’s prime season for cloud- and sunset-watching, and thunderstorm-experiencing. (The family can attest to my bordering-upon-OCD fascination with cloud photography.) Also a good time to take in the majesty of Yellowstone Park.

And, of course, the last few years have had the bonus of the previously-blogged-about Folk Festival.

Alas, the cloud formations weren’t really happening this year (factually, they looked more like Seattle than Montana clouds — not that Seattle clouds suck, mind you; just that they aren’t quite in the same class as the Montana clouds). And there was only one, regrettably mild, thunderstorm (apparently the really happening storms went down just prior to my arrival this year). But the birdsong was especially magical this year.

And, clouds/storms or no, Montana is still like an entirely different world. They call it “Big Sky Country”; and when one is in Montana, one can see that it’s exactly that — even though unable to explain why it’s exactly that.

So, it’s never a good place to leave. On our last night, it did bust out with a nice sunset. A good note to leave on, if one absolutely needs must leave…