Hawaii: Ka'au Crater: The Scariest Hike I've Done

On our last day in Hawaii, I decided to let Ali choose the activity. The receptionist at the first hotel we stayed at had recommended a waterfall repelling trip that she had done, and as soon as he heard that, Ali wanted to do it. I wasn't so keen on the idea. I'm not a big fan of repelling or climbing. But we called them up, and I was able to go on the hike with them and then only Ali would go down the waterfall. We hike all the time here in Washington, so I thought, "No big deal. A hike through the rainforest will be nice."

What I didn't know, is that Hawaii doesn't maintain their trails like they do here in Washington. The trail was treacherous. I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie. The trail was narrow and muddy. After about 5 minutes, I stopped trying to keep my shoes clean. The mud also made it super slippery, so every step had to be carefully planted, or you could slip off and fall into the trees below. I had to grab onto every bush and tree I could find. The whole time I was just afraid that I would take the wrong step, slip, and take a painful fall to the bottom. And I couldn't have done it on my own. Ali was there with a helping had to pull and steady me. Also, our two guides were super helpful, telling us the best places to step.

We did make it to the waterfall eventually. Ali really enjoyed the repelling. He went down the first one twice, and then hiked to a second one, to do that once. I decided to wait for them at this fall and enjoy the sandwich I had packed.

After the repelling and break, we took the trail back. Slow and steady, we made it back in one piece. If you enjoy adventurous hiking and a little bit of climbing, than this is a great hike for you! Would I do it again? Probably not. I, personally, was a little overwhelmed. I'm not the most athletic of people, and I'm not big on climbing. I'll just stick to my Washington trails. But, at the end of the day, it certainly made for a good story.