Kalalau's Beauty

I thought that once I was in Kalalau, after a day or so of rest I would have the energy and such to go adventuring all over the valley.

What I discovered was that after a day or so of rest, my feet still hated me and my body was sore and tired and not looking forward to the long trek out. Trying to be prepared for everything that might come on this journey and keeping the stuff severely limited, means I was not ready for this trek. My shoes are years old, need to thrown away. The backs are breaking, the soles have almost no tread left and so on. I had amazing blisters on my toes and heels. My backpack was too small and designed for bike riding, not for hiking. And, I was now sleeping on the ground with just my cloak. I rested. I wandered around Kalalau a bit, but mostly along the beach and out to the river, not high up the valley.

That said, I still saw some amazing things, just sitting on the beach. Kalalau is beautiful, especially during the transitory periods of dusk and dawn. In my little nest in the woods, I could step out the back and watch as the sun slowly came lancing through the sharp peaks. The far wall of the mountains would begin to glow and the sun would make it's way up over the mountains. Sunset was extraordinary. I cannot even begin to describe the playing of the light over the waves, catching in the ocean spray, the way the clouds became fire, the great open sky over the ocean.

Halloween was grand. I am incredibly happy that I chose to have Samhain out in that magic place. Basically everyone gathered together, bringing tidbits of food to share including the "great pumpkin" made from granola, oatmeal, chocolate sauce, bananas, peanuts... it was delicious. Cheese, crackers, lillokoi... and all the locals and visitors spent time singing together and telling stories and jumping around. There was a huge ring that formed around the moon and the moonlight was surprisingly bright. It was a lot of fun. The people there seemed like a part of my extended family, the sorts of people I was raised around.

The moonlight on and around the full moon there was so bright I could have read by it. One night I saw a rainbow cast by moonlight. It looked like the ghost of a rainbow, all colors muted and silvery.

And the last sunset I saw there was probably the most beautiful and awesomely powerful sunset that I have and probably ever will see.