Story:
While in Hawaii, we decided to go after one of the easier caches on the island. Rated only a 4/4, Waterworld Fresh Water http://coord.info/GC5B98 was an interesting hike. At the top of the hill we were only 600' away from the cache - straight down. This cache is located very near the spot where the survivors in the Waterworld movie discovered dry land and fresh water.
The road down the hill into the Waipi'O Valley is very steep and requires a 4-wheel drive vehicle. The signs even state "NO AWD" allowed. The road down the hillside is paved but narrow and only one lane in most places. About 300' down the road we came across two signs, one stating we were entering a tsunami evacuation area. The second was a "Steep Grade 25%" sign - the steepest I've ever seen on a road sign. This is a LOT of down hill - nearly 90 feet vertical descent every 1/10th of a mile. As we took our time stepping down the hill, we watched many weary travelers trudging their way back up the hill. It was hot and muggy with very little shade but we drove all the way out here and we weren't about to leave without a smiley!
Once we reached the bottom, the road made a u-turn back towards the beach and was now dirt, potholes and mud. At this point, we were now about a mile from the cache. Several 4-wheel drive trucks and jeeps drove by, most of them with 6-8 people in them. We assumed that there was a local taxi shuttle charging a few bucks to bring people back up to the top. We were wrong.
In any case, another 1/2 mile to the beautiful beach brought us nearer to our goal. There was a short path (100' or so) that took us from the "parking lot" towards the cliffs and rocky terrain alongside the water's edge. All of these rocks, ranging from five inches to five feet in diameter, were formed from volcanic means so they were very sharp and hard to walk on. We were prepared though. The distance we needed to climb/hop over these rocks was another 600' or so and Naomi enthusiastically began the trek.
Little by little we made our approach until we reached about 80' away. Now the compass pointed UP! We scrambled up and over some more rocks and vegetation following the geo-trail right to the cache. The trail brings you up to a little overlook above the beach - maybe 30' or so. Butted up against the west side of the valley cliff, we had an incredible view of the massive cliff across the valley and the most gorgeous beach that lay in between them.
Naomi found the cache (of course) and we both enjoyed reading the logs and digging through the cache contents. No TBs but that's okay. We sat there for a while and just took it all in. We then looked at each other and realized we now needed to return to the car. One bottle of water left, we savored it slowly all the way up. By the time, we reached the top, I was drenched and ready for some shave ice! Had a great time finding this hide but won't be doing it again!
If you Google Earth this valley and angle the view just right you can just imagine what this valley looks like! Heaven. The track shown is only the downhill portion of the hill and to the cache.
While in Hawaii, we decided to go after one of the easier caches on the island. Rated only a 4/4, Waterworld Fresh Water http://coord.info/GC5B98 was an interesting hike. At the top of the hill we were only 600' away from the cache - straight down. This cache is located very near the spot where the survivors in the Waterworld movie discovered dry land and fresh water.
The road down the hill into the Waipi'O Valley is very steep and requires a 4-wheel drive vehicle. The signs even state "NO AWD" allowed. The road down the hillside is paved but narrow and only one lane in most places. About 300' down the road we came across two signs, one stating we were entering a tsunami evacuation area. The second was a "Steep Grade 25%" sign - the steepest I've ever seen on a road sign. This is a LOT of down hill - nearly 90 feet vertical descent every 1/10th of a mile. As we took our time stepping down the hill, we watched many weary travelers trudging their way back up the hill. It was hot and muggy with very little shade but we drove all the way out here and we weren't about to leave without a smiley!
Once we reached the bottom, the road made a u-turn back towards the beach and was now dirt, potholes and mud. At this point, we were now about a mile from the cache. Several 4-wheel drive trucks and jeeps drove by, most of them with 6-8 people in them. We assumed that there was a local taxi shuttle charging a few bucks to bring people back up to the top. We were wrong.
In any case, another 1/2 mile to the beautiful beach brought us nearer to our goal. There was a short path (100' or so) that took us from the "parking lot" towards the cliffs and rocky terrain alongside the water's edge. All of these rocks, ranging from five inches to five feet in diameter, were formed from volcanic means so they were very sharp and hard to walk on. We were prepared though. The distance we needed to climb/hop over these rocks was another 600' or so and Naomi enthusiastically began the trek.
Little by little we made our approach until we reached about 80' away. Now the compass pointed UP! We scrambled up and over some more rocks and vegetation following the geo-trail right to the cache. The trail brings you up to a little overlook above the beach - maybe 30' or so. Butted up against the west side of the valley cliff, we had an incredible view of the massive cliff across the valley and the most gorgeous beach that lay in between them.
Naomi found the cache (of course) and we both enjoyed reading the logs and digging through the cache contents. No TBs but that's okay. We sat there for a while and just took it all in. We then looked at each other and realized we now needed to return to the car. One bottle of water left, we savored it slowly all the way up. By the time, we reached the top, I was drenched and ready for some shave ice! Had a great time finding this hide but won't be doing it again!
If you Google Earth this valley and angle the view just right you can just imagine what this valley looks like! Heaven. The track shown is only the downhill portion of the hill and to the cache.
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