Big Island

napali kalikimaka

Three days of summer sausage, cliff bars, and sore legs for a beautiful christmas on the Napali Coast of Kauai.

mauiwzer

From Lahaina, looking towards Lanai at sunset.







The Road to Hana.

Dad checking out the ocean at black sand beach.

South side.

The Big AK

Hatchers Pass. Almost Snowed-In. Shoveled our way down the mountain with Subaru.

Toyota Advertisment, Portage Glacier, Whittier 

Snowshoes, Historic Iditarod Trail, Yurt, Eagle River.

Hiking Flat Top Mountain outside Anchorage

Hawaii Furlough Friday

The Price of an Education

'Twas Furlough Eve, when all through the school
Not a student was stirring, because the adults all voted
And they said it was cool.

The State needs money and they only take cash
So bunker down in front of that t.v. honey
Tomorrow is the Furlough Friday Bash.

Everyone knows 17 days a year are extra
So the kids will stay home, the schools will all close
And if something changes, we'll text ya.

'Twas Furlough Eve, October 2009
A student updated her blog, "Math is simple when
My education is only one number for the state dakine."

Holoholo Kauai

Ten days on the Garden Isle.

"Holoholo" - to walk, drive or ramble around for pleasure.

In the April 2006 issue of Backpacker Magazine i read an article called "Love on the Rocks" about a newly wed couple's experience hiking the Napali Coast of Kauai. At the time, I never imagined I'd visit Hawaii with the opportunity to hike Na Pali (the cliffs, in Hawaiian). But then, i guess it worked out. Who could have known?

So here I am in Hawaii and in an ironic twist of Cupidless-fate I explore Kauai on my own. But there on the luscious garden isle I discovered love. I discovered beauty, truth, nirvana, and perfect bliss in my solitude. The answer to life's eternal questions is Ryan Hamilton barreling down the coast in his PT Cruiser blasting Everclear into the gentle Hawaiian breeze.

My first night I slept in the car at Spouting Horn on the south shore. Back a single lane road past resorts and parking lots. Picture perfect dead end street. I woke up to a spotlight shinning in my face. Luckily the officer didn't seem to care, turned around and drove on. Here, I'd like to note that camping permits can be obtained from the Lihue State Park Office (808-587-0300). $3 for non-residents and free for those who live in state. I picked up on this later.

I woke early and drove up Waimea Canyon. Mark Twain is falsely credited as naming this "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific". He was in Hawaii, but never visited Kauai. And the actual Grand Canyon wasn't named until just before Twain's death. Nevertheless, it really does look like a little grand.

The sun was just breaching the mountains ahead of me while i started down the Kukui Trail towards the canyon floor. I knew I was the first on the trail this morning as i passed through fresh spiderwebs across the trail. The sound of my footsteps accompanied the farm yard melody echoing across the canyon. In the 80's and 90's two large hurricanes caused the unintended release of Kauai's fighting cock population. Chickens roam the island. The crowing feathered squirrels known as Kauai's broken alarm clock.

After picking up my camping permits in Lihue I drove up the coast towards Hanalei. At Anini beach park I passed the grassy area for camping and continued down the road. A the end of the road (roads are always ending on islands) i found an empty stretch of white sand curving around clear blue shallows. I sat beneath the trees hanging over the beach and waited for sunset. As darkness settled over my little plot of paradise, I quickly learned that my tent stakes wouldn't hold in that soft sandy beach. The stars above seductively suggested clear skies and I laid back on the unfurled tent. Halfway though the night, I learned of my mistake. Rain pelted down through the leaves as I stubbornly cursed and wrapped myself tortilla style in the tent fly. About 4 am, laughing and wet I begrudgingly trekked back to the cruiser.

Writing this now feels cliche, but time began to loose meaning. Sunrise and sunset where the most important events of the day. I set up camp at Ha'ena county beach park. Tunnels reef, within walking distance, kept me in excellent snorkeling every day. A little bakery/cafe in Hanalei kept me supplied with awesome Portuguese sausage breakfast burritos and coffee. Every night I fell asleep to the sounds of Ha'ena park regulars jamming with saxophone, ukulele, and booze under the pavilion. I hiked up to Hanakapiai Falls one morning. At the falls I looked around at a few other hikers as I stripped down to my skibbys and prepared to jump in. Hoping to convey in my look the suggestion they save me if it looked like I needed help.

And then it was time to tackle the hike out to Kalalau Beach. To reach this beach you either need a boat, a helicopter, or the desire to hike 11 miles along the beautiful and treacherous cliffs of the NaPali Coast. Past Hanakapiai Beach, a permit (obtained in advance from Lihue State Park Office by post) is required to hike and camp. I hiked for hours without seeing anyone. Though, there were a lot more people on the trail than I imagined would holoholo out along the cliff hugging switchbacks and talus slopes dropping into a raging turquoise pacific. I spent three days and two nights exploring the caves at Kalalau Beach, Big Pool, Hanakoa Falls and the deep lush valleys where Hawaiians once grew taro on man-made graded levels; the remains of which are still a prominent part of the landscape.

After 22+ miles, wild boars, rain, goats, powerbars, stream crossings, a few close calls, and some serious time to think, I near the trail head. I'm covered in mud, sunburned, sweat pours off my body, I'm still wearing my pack and maybe even a big grin. Two steps from the parking lot, a woman stops me to ask about the trail conditions. Seriously? Go hike! Stop talking to me. A scraggly girl about my age standing nearby overhears our conversation and asks if I liked Kalalau. Then she tries to sell me a DVD about a bunch of hold-outs playing music, hiking, smoking pot, and living in tents on the beach I have just returned from. I can't even really respond. Is this an amusement park? What just happened? Did she really just cheapen my entire life altering religious-like outdoor excursion? Pretty much. But you know what...such is life. Writing about it might do that too. And I really enjoyed my holoholo Kauai.

Check the hikers for scale, bottom left corner. v

anchor man

Why are folks on the news suddenly so eager to point out what a bad idea it was to invade Iraq? Its just oh so reassuring that they can now confidently point out all of our mistakes along the way. Great, they can detail the absurdity in hindsight. I can do that myself.

Is it just me?

terrorist.

exactly. irrational language.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/world/middleeast/26terror.html?_r=1&hp

unabashed self-promotion

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090204/COMPUB05/902040337/1226


and...

I blew away the competition in Friday's third grade jump rope contest. criss-cross high speed mad skillzzzz.

philosophy

so i had to bus in to kapolei this afternoon to buy my housemate a bicycle tire tube. i may be indirectly responsible for his flat tire. but my thoughts begin on the bus ride home. i've wedged myself next to one of those old men who don't like to share seats. so i end up half leaning off the edge of my seat with a backpack on my lap. and i'm stumbling through the library's copy of "The Portable Nietzsche". Some gold, "What, then, is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms - in short, a sum of human relations, which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical, and obligatory to a people: truths are illusions about which one has forgotten..." he continues. but i stop reading to watch the elderly couple seated in front of me. she leans away disgusted and he keeps glancing at short shorts in the aisle. every bus ride is an adventure and an education.

108 Hours in Maui

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/travel/04hours.html?8dpc

"True Travel is not the destination but the journey." My heart backs the idea but my mind, an emotional Brutus, is suggesting this as justification for bungling vacationers. Et tu? A few hours in Maui and I began picking away at the details that would stick with me. the way everything slows down as soon as you step off the plane. the way tourists drive the maui economy. the way a double rainbow arcs down the cliffs beyond hana and disappears. And for ms. fujii at the new york times, the way to travel without a true destination in mind.

Tuesday

5:00am

1) Bound for Maui

Luke and I have to leave makaha if we want to catch our flight. it takes longer to ride the bus from my house to the airport than it does to fly from oahu to maui (30 min.)

8:30am

2) Kahalui Airport

Well we're in Maui. But we don't have a place to stay or a means of getting around. First stop are the rental car booths just outside. The airport seems kind of empty. A few employees meander around. I think we may be beyond help from the airport information centers. enterprise, avis, alamo, sold out. one place has cars that they want to rent me (under 25 years of age) for some exuberant sum which i refuse to pay. ok. it seems there are some buses here. public transportation? perfect. where should we go? Jump on the bus. Alright sure we'll go there. Stop at the K. Mall transit center. i start calling around to hostels and craigslist ads i wrote down before we left. The North Shore Hostel in Wailuku ($25 a night dorm style) looks like our best bet. They have two beds open for tonight!

High Noon

3) Kihei Star Market

Learning to maneuver maui public transportation. looking for a beach and snorkeling. blue skies and sunshine. i think hawaii is beautiful because of color. cruising in 25 passenger mini bus past burnt red dirt moistened green waves blue breeze skies and yellow angel fish sunshine.

9pm

4) England

Luke and I miss the stop on our way back from Lahaina. we spot two guys from our hostel on the bus. they missed the stop too. they are from wakefield, just outside of Leeds. on their world tour. headed to australia and south africa.

Wednesday

7am

5) searching

i'm walking the streets of wailuku. the morning is still brisk. i tear the auto rental pages from a phone book and get a coffee at McDonald's. ($1.85?)

8am

6) desperation

luke and i are frantically dialing every number we have. public transport on maui is limited.

11:30am

7) Rent a Jeep

we end up at a gas station somewhere in kahalui and call the guy to come pick us up. drive up, pull away rusting fence. he isnt' very talkative. sign here and here. old sleepy guard dogs. gas tank empty. passenger side door doesn't open without the key. no roof cover? didn't even think to question. behind the wheel.

High Noon

8) Road to Hana

drive until the sun sets. put on raincoats when the downpour begins. loops and curves and hairpins. locals laugh and speed by. Need to stop at Wai'anapanapa State Park. Meet Johnathan, hitchhiker from oregon, black sand beaches and sprouting coconut. warm passion fruit banana bread from roadside stand. excellent. bamboo forests and waterfalls. the map shows a scratch of a road ahead.

7pm

9) Rainbows

Circle island. desolate and beautiful sunset drive. arching rainbows in the rear view mirror. cliffs edge the road dropping to a rushing blue sea and black rock. cows. beautiful.

11pm

10) fall asleep in the jeep somewhere south of Kihei. wake and watch the honu play. visit Makena beach early for crystal clear waters and near isolation.

Thursday - Saturday...

11) Rain

walk makai from the north shore hostel to Tasty Crust Diner 'world famous pancakes' (big breakfast for two: $18). They are good. reading 'sputnik sweetheart' on the top bunk. german tourists laughing on the balcony. watch "Slum Dog Millionaire" and enjoy.

12) Iao Valley

3 miles Makua from the north shore hostel. start hiking. the rental car was returned long ago. rain forest. the needle. bridges. not as impressive as i thought it might be. a good hike back. Rosa's Cantina in wailuku (great food and prices). snorkeling north of Lahaina on resort beaches. enjoy the reef and the crowds.

13) Paia

How did i describe it? hippies embracing capitalism. you know those chill little towns. where you need money to buy but anyone can look. tourists and good vibes. sometimes it works. makes you wonder where these people all come from. how they end up collecting here, loose change piles up with pretzel crumbs and the vcr remote beneath the couch cushions, lost pockets of the globe. catching rays. drinking tea at the Green Banana Cafe. waiting for the rain to pass. (advertised, organic eco internet cafe) they have nice tables outside. waiting for the bus, waiting for our flight, our last day in maui.

holidays

Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka,

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from Hawaii. I won’t be able to spend the holidays with friends and family in PA this year. So, I’m writing to let you all know what I’ve been up to. And also to let you know that, though I miss home, I’ll survive this breezy 70 degree December.
In August I left Philadelphia on a plane bound for LA. With a plane ticket and the promise of an AmeriCorps VISTA position on Oahu I was ready for my week of training. VISTA is the leg of AmeriCorps devoted particularly to work in areas of poverty. Think of this as something like the domestic PeaceCorps. Through a year of service, my official goal here is to build sustainable relationships, resources and programs designed to battle the root causes of poverty. Under the Corporation for National and Community Service, I was challenged with the task of creating a literacy tutoring program for K-3 students at Nanakuli Elementary School on the Leeward coast of Oahu. The program relies on volunteer involvement which means one of my main goals is volunteer recruitment, management and retention. So far so good. Teaching kids to read proficiently at a young age significantly improves their chances of successfully continuing their education. Ultimately, putting up a significant roadblock for a poverty which is passed from one generation to the next.
In my short time here I’m afraid I have learned more than anyone I’ve helped. Through some inspiring mentors I’ve learned there are no problems only challenges. Every day is both a challenge and a chance to learn something new. I’ve learned that a community is a very intricate web of personal relationships. In Nanakuli a majority of these are family ties. Everyone I meet is somehow related to someone I already know. I’ve learned that snorkeling is much more difficult than it looks, but still a great time. I’ve learned where the honu (sea turtles) come up to rest on a hidden beach. Surf season and whale watching in Hawaii is during the winter months. Volunteers can be difficult to come by, but can also be a fantastic resource. Food stamps are great if you live alone, hold a steady job, and ride the bus. Watching movies about Hawaii in Hawaii makes me laugh. Even if you’re in the middle of the Pacific Ocean far from home, sometimes a family is wonderful enough to invite you to Thanksgiving dinner. Plate lunch in Hawaii is rice, macaroni salad, and meat. Guide books suggesting not traveling up the leeward coast cause visitors to miss some of the best beaches on the island. The aloha spirit is more reality than myth. The kids make it all worth it.
So while I work through the challenges of an outsider in a very localized community, I have been fortunate to be accepted into that community in many ways. This of course makes my job a little easier. A smile and a ‘howzit bruddah?’ goes a long way. I’ll be happy to move on in eight months if I know I’ve made some kind of difference, if only a few new friends.


Happy Holidays,


Ryan

Haleiwa

If a monk seal falls alseep on a deserted beach, does his snoring disturb the gulls?

From far off there is only silence. Encased in a tempered glass fishbowl Imagination hitches a burning comet to the end of the galaxy and back. there is only silence. and through eyes searching from an undocumented precise point in space, it seems the world goes on spinning. without our immediate attention. this is both encouraging and a source of despair. Our looking glass is a wonderful fountain of contradiction.

November 4th, 2008. I left the house early and headed northwest up the coast. just before the sun stepped hot and bright over those mountains, i peddled and looked back. the lonely cars wafting pot smoke and the pickups loaded with surfboards grow less frequent as the pavement stretches out. by 8:30 it is only me, the fishermen, and the retirees staring into the blue abyss down at yoks beach. I stand for a moment at the end of the paved road and sip water i've carried in a gatorade bottle. time to move. rocks, mud, abandoned 4x4s, and washed out shadows of highway. Then a boat speeding along with me toward kaena point drops a line between swells. Sitting on the weathered coral, white and fragmented below the lighthouse, i read the small yellow sign tilted in the wind. Then scan the fingers of volcanic rock reaching out towards the reef. There, in a shallow bed of salt water humped up on the stones, my monk seal snores away. his snout spouts air across the surface of the water spraying his visibly fury back. an endangered species! less than 1500 monk seals, endemic to hawaii, are still about. a solitary creature without the instinct to flee. in translation, the 'dog that runs in rough waters'.

Across the sand and around the point weaving up and down all terrain. back on the paved road i spot two cyclists like myself. but cresting the small hill, i hear their engines kick on, and i try to pass them. flying downhill my knees pumping towards my chest. a simple jest. I swerve to the center of the road. i pass them! a defiant smile intact. and then they lazily swim by spouting exhaust in my visibly fury beard. I keep on.

At dillingham airfield helicopters cut up and down through the sky and i'm jeanclaudevandam. planes to my left are taking flight and i'm barreling down the highway catching quick glances over my shoulder. semiautomatic snorkel at the ready. Then pastel houses and horses and i swear a group playing polo. waialua red dirt and a small library with the dust of coffee grounds caught in spokes on my tires. sharks at the beach park. on the corner is 'wiki wiki java' where i sit for an iced coffee and listen to some middle aged guy sound tough and business like on his cell. then he introduces the brazillian women serving drinks to his teenage daughter and asks the waitress for a date. he's turned down. maybe I should have asked her out too. He seems to take rejection in stride and lays out a string of sad loves lost. The touristy looking elderly couple with white hair and tacky hawaiian dress flip through surfing magazines on the table as i get up to leave.

I catch the bus to waimea bay. I listen to bus stop lies and children bickering between fresh fruit stands. i have reached my elusively absolute destination. sit swim and decide to catch the bus home. text messages alert me to obama's win in pa. spinning in transit. reading 'kafka on the shore', bumping shoulders and balancing bags on knees with a sharp eye on my final ride. the phone rings. jubilation on the line. President of the United States of America! i was in haleiwa. my monk seal snores off kaena point.

suprises

1. A hand scrawled sign: "Write in Ron Paul for President"

2. When locals assume I am from the area. someone suggested they can't imagine another reason for my being here. i think they are just being nice.

3. Dollar movie theater in town. A silly satisfied grin spread across my face when a movie ticket and a single dollar bill traded hands.

4. Photo Story on Waianae Coast featured in "Fader", a national magazine. i know those places and people. check it out online. thanx kazia.

5. clutter really bothers me. organization is important. 'pet peeve', a term whose use is reserved for middle school math teachers, nearly entered my vocabulary.

6. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton in Kissimme Florida. I think Obama has been reading Kierkegaard.

7. the phillies won? E-A-G-L-E-S!!!!

8. I passionately dislike chickens.

9. planting tomatoes in october.

Make A Difference Day

rides the bus

What follows is a combination of my angered scrawlings from the bus this morning and my now much calmer reflective thoughts. as i sit in my room hours later I'm finding it difficult to begin writing. Should I plainly state the actions leading to this post, hitting my obvious theme? "Two weeks ago I applied for Food Stamps with the Hawaii Department of Human Resources. This morning, 6:58am walking into the parking lot at work, i get a call from the welfare office in Kapolei." A historical fact. Suggesting the emotional state which prompted discussion in my mind? "I do not want to single out my experience as anything extraordinary. I rather note the ordinary nature of my entire day. This is a kind of struggle for me. in many ways unaware, uncomfortable, and unconnected. yet learning and understanding and still without solutions." For those more adventurous types, I may explain geography. "Makaha, where I live, is roughly one hour (by bus) north of Kapolei. Nanakuli, work, is just about right in between." Economics? "$250,000...well."

I am writing, I have the time and capability to write b/c in many ways food stamps are more of a luxury than a real necessity for me. This is a distinction I make. And this may have all been said so many times before and i am conscious of recording it once again. For my benefit. and for others who are as confused as I.

To enjoy healthy (expensive) fruits and vegetables, to break even 10 months from now, and to take advantage of my volunteer status, I was able to disregard my stipend as countable income. Making me eligible for State Assistance. In a small way i feel guilty. Am i stealing someone's opportunity? Do I really need help? its the government. I get paid by them anyway! but taxes and someone pays. They tax me too. i imagine these may be similar (certainly not identical) struggles for anyone else walking into the welfare office for their first time. it is easiest to refuse to accept you are scraping the bottom of the barrel. and by contrast, most will not accept how wealthy they really are or how deep you can actually sink. in the waiting room i may be one of the few lucky enough to be new to the process. Generational poverty is a different bird. This morning on the bus i heard two women talking about their respective rent rates, energy saving tips, and welfare benefits. these are the people to ask about going green. skipping out on hot water. unplugging the fridge. the women sitting closest to me commented that when she was growing up her family was really poor. but she struggled out of the situation and now provides for a family of her own. her son helps her and her husband with rent. he receives welfare checks too. poverty is relative.

So the call i get this morning. 6:58am. I have an appointment in Kapolei at 11 and need an exhaustive list of documents ensuring i am both a US citizen and living a life of meager means. how to gather all of these documents in four hours is difficult to comprehend. at the desk they are confused when i show a passport instead of a drivers license. it turns out the women was doing me a favor and scheduling me in an open spot without going through the process of sending me a letter etc. talking to her on the phone though, it seemed like I had no choice but to show up in four hours. in any case, i am told there are no afternoon appointments available. I will have to leave work, travel north to makaha, then south past work, to kapolei and then back to nanakuli. altogether this is not a problem for me. luckily i live and work near bus stops. i rationalized this in my head a few hours later. but there are few things more frustrating than waiting for a bus when you are in a rush. so my mind is crunching numbers. killing time. I am in the ideal situation for dealing with this. Most however, are not. I have a steady and secure job which i can leave for a few hours without being fired. i'll make up the time later. Most minimum wage jobs don't play by these rules. But telling someone in charge that I am leaving, or just asking for time off is still difficult. even if peers are in the same situation and if there is time to plan ahead. I am not ashamed to tell my coworkers where I am off to, but I also don't want them to think I am struggling. I am single and childless. what do i have to complain about? Most of the other clients waiting to be seen by their workers were mothers with very young children. I was able to come up with $40 at the start of the month for a bus pass so it doesn't matter that a trip to kapolei would cut into my daily transportation fund. these inconveniences seem hardly worth noticing until they become the logic of daily life. two dollars here or there. It just seems that there are too many contradictions. I accept, embrace, find enjoyment in the absurd and the ironic. yet, this is hard to work with.

In the light of my desk lamp, I am still upset by the process. In my case, I have everything to my advantage. For others, getting help is another challenge in itself. but i can't claim a solution. this is only an exercise. stretch.

parade & ka'ena point

Nanakuli El JPO's.

homecoming and collecting candy.