HUNT FOR THE SECRET TREEHOUSE

(* SEE MY PHOTO PAGE - LINK TO THE RIGHT - FOR PHOTOS THAT ACCOMPANY THE STORY!!)

I always thought it would be fun to be part of the scooby-do gang, and solve some kind of tantalizing mystery in a secret place. On monday i had my chance to live the surreal cartoon life.

my friend chris and i both had the day off and so decided to carry out our long-time plan of hiking in the beautiful waipio valley. i had heard many times from chris about how beautiful it was, but had yet to get out there and see for myself. he had hiked the rim around the valley several times, but had never ventured down into it. we decided we would do what neither of us had yet done. the valley is about an hour and a half north of kailua, where i live, and is a lush green sprawl with 3,000 foot cliffs and thin, plummeting waterfalls.

that morning, i was hurrying to get ready to leave. i was rummaging around in the kitchen, cooking up pancake batter only half-way, and throwing breakfast into a tupperware and travel mug for quick take-off. in the meantime, star was talking to me about a friend of hers who lives in the "back" of the waipio valley, that we should "look up" when we got there. i caught more than half of what she was saying, but admittedly thought her idea that chris and i should go visit this woman was outrageous! as she talked, she sketched up a quick map, which consisted of a circle with 5 "landmarks": little squares set around the circle labeled, "1st hale (house)", "2nd hale", "linda" (X marks the spot), "library", and "gate". the directions read as follows:

"LINDA BEECH - "TREEHOUSE"
Back of the valley
pass hi'ilawe falls
cross 1st stream
turn left 2nd stream
go back a long ways
if you hit the gate at (kia's) at the end, go back
turn right at dirt entry (a.k.a. mud puddle)
taro (kalo marsh on rt.)
go back to the river
cross the river - get very wet and follow the road on the other side-
all the way back
crawl under-around the gate
go back to the last house

ummm...riiigghht...okay, sure...we'll see what we can find...truthfully, in my mind, i has already decided that there was no way we could ever find this place. plus, even if we did, what would we say to this woman who lived there? star just said, "linda is a good friend of mine. she is in her seventies, and is pretty isolated out there. we haven't spoken in a long time, but she is a special lady, and you should pay her a visit". star seemed calm, but had a certain kind of urgency behind her "random" request. maybe less of an urgency, but rather, a certainty - that this was just "what chris and i needed to do".

i took the map and ran next door, ready for the big adventure to begin. the dogs were already sitting in the car, not seeming to care that chris had forgotten to roll down the windows, which were completely fogged over from dog breath. soon, we were off.

we had a lovely drive, and laughed at riley, whose jowls flapped and wildly flipped slobber across the car, as his head hung out the window almost far enough to reach the tires! i pulled out the map and treasure hunt directions, and laughed sort of dismissively as i told chris about star's crazy instructions. chris laughed too, but then recounted another time when one of star's hasty maps had gotten him to a remote lava tube somewhere in the middle of the island; one star had never even been to herself, nonetheless!

as we began to discuss the idea further, we decided that it would be really fun to follow her guide, just to see if we could find the treasure at the end (which she said would be "the house itself")! it seemed like a major wild goose chase, but a great challenge too. so we ultimately decided that star's "silly" map would be the cornerstone of our mission for this day's trek. we would track down the mysterious lady of the treehouse, deep in the back of the waipio valley, and find out then why we had gone.

on the way, we stopped in a small town called honoka'a for lunch. we ate at some vegetarian cafe, which displayed a sign urging its patrons to "HAVE AN UNREAL DAY".

upon entering the valley, we were warned of steep, windy roads fit only for 4-wheel drive vehicles. chris's isuzu is not a 4x4, only a 2-wheel drive. but we proceeded nonetheless. we eeked down an incredibly steep, winding, one-lane road, our brakes straining under the pressure of the descent. we reached the 1st stream that dissected the road, parked, and got out to assess the situation. the dogs played in the water, while we watched a few giant 4x4 vans and trucks slosh through the rocky stream to the other side of the road. we wondered if we would make it in our car. it was iffy at best. and even if the car could make it through the stream, it might not be able to grip the wet pavement to get back up the incline on the other side, and get us out of the water. we had doubts, but we decided to try in spite of them.

i walked ahead of the car, stepping carefully through the stream to make sure there were no major holes in which the isuzu might get stuck. were we to stall in the middle of the stream, we would be blocking the road to traffic completely, and there would pretty much be no way to get out without a major ordeal involved. we pushed forward, though. and made it across much more easily than we had expected we would. as we ventured further into the dark green valley, i was reminded of a movie i had seen a few years back called "home movie". it was a documentary (which i highly recommend), in which two guys traveled the country and showcased the five most unique and awesome homes in the u.s. one of them was a house in the trees in hawaii. i didn't remember which island it was, or where on that island, or what the lady's name was who lived there. but the terrain looked and felt familiar as i reminisced about the film. i told chris about it, and thought, "what if...what if this was the house we were moving toward with such ambition"?...it seemed nearly impossible, but was a cool thought nonetheless.

by the time we reached the second stream, wet, muddy dogs panting crazily in the back seat, chris came to a shocking realization: we were running on fumes. we had forgotten to gas up in town after lunch, and now were in the depths of waipio valley...with NO FUEL whatsoever! we had no choice. we would have to turn around, backtrack over both streams we had so painstakingly crossed, and hope to make it back UP that one-lane road climb, and ALL the way back to town...on EMPTY. town was probably a good ten miles, at least, from the opening of the valley. we swallowed the "awww, we dont wanna go back" sentiment, and turned the car around without much more thought. we had no choice but to turn around.

after crossing back over the 1st stream, we were stopped by a woman who was hiking in the direction from which we had just come. she motioned for us to roll down the window, and asked us if we knew how far back...the TREEHOUSE was! we said, "WHAT!? you're looking for the treehouse!? do you know the woman who lives there??" she said, "yeah, caroline". "oh", i said, a little dejected. "the woman we're looking for's name is linda". strange, though...i wondered if linda beech didn't possibly have a pen name or an alter ego? nevertheless, it was very "coincidental" that we ran into the hiker whose goal matched our own; and it served to reinforce our intuitive feeling that we were "supposed" to be there, following star's directions.

on the way to town, we discussed whether or not we really wanted to go all the way back to the valley once we had gotten gas. it was so far, especially when you consider the handful of times we missed our exit, and/or stopped for gas, for lunch, for bathroom breaks for liz. should we just go find something else to do? we debated it, and ended up deciding that we would simply go where the day took us. no pressure to accomplish any one thing, but rather, roll with the flow and see where we ended up. however, even having settled on this ambiguous non-plan, both of us admitted that we really wanted to go back to the valley and find that trail to the treehouse.

by the time we arrived - again - at the first stream, we were really serious about figuring out the map. we retraced our previous steps, and figured out that we had crossed over the second stream, instead of turning down it. well, of course we had! we couldn't very well DRIVE down the stream! could we? in order to find out which was truly the second stream, we drove all the way back up to the 3rd or 4th, then all the way back to the first. we ended up parked in the exact same spot we had originally stopped while evaluating our car's capabilities. we left the car this time, and set off walking, map in hand.

when we reached the second stream, we turned left, just like the map said to do. i assumed the water level would lower significantly, and eventually the stream bed would become a muddy road. it did. so now we were looking for the "mud puddle" and "taro patch" on the right-hand side of the road, where we would need to turn. we passed what looked like a taro marsh, although EVERYTHING looked like a taro marsh! but this spot had a place to turn. chris suggested, though, that because there might be fifty taro marshes and mud puddles, we should continue all the way to the gate at the end of the road, then turn back. we needed to be sure we had headed down the right stream. so on we went, widdling away and narrowing down our directional options.

i was pretty certain that that first turn was the one we needed to take, as otherwise, star would have said "take second taro marsh right", or "third". but chris was right, we needed to find that gate before going any further down the list of instructions. at this point, we still could not fathom that we were on the right track, or that our search would ever yield any real results. yet somehow, we both were completely determined to press on.

so we walked and walked...and walked and walked and walked. we did pass many other turning points that could've fit star's description. but we kept walking until we reached the gate that cut off the road. then we turned around and began walking back. we walked and walked and walked...and walked. until we reached the second turn-off. chris suggested we take it, and i thought he might be right. but after heading that way for a while, we decided to turn back. if we weren't meant to take that first turn, star would have specified a "2nd" or "3rd" or "4th". we went back to the first, and turned left (remember, we were going back the other direction now).

we continued walking through the tangled rainforest, still feeling uncertain of where we were or whether we would make our destination, but certain that we weren't going to quit now. we had come too far...and gone back...and come back again...and found our way out of a million vague dead ends. no, there was no going back now.

i straggled behind chris for a while, lost in the magic of this place and the bizarre sequence of our trip's events thus far. i was snapped out of my fog to the sound of chris yelling excitedly, "LOOK! here's the gate we're supposed to crawl under! the map is finally starting to make sense!" on the outside of the gate, the word KAPU was engraved on a rock. chris told me this meant, "NOT WELCOME" - keep out, essentially. we squeezed through the bars of the gate, and saw the first house that star had drawn on the tiny map!

we could hardly contain ourselves, when suddenly the energy level rose even higher. a sandy blonde-haired man with piercing blue eyes and a gentle smile stepped out from behind what seemed like nowhere, and greeted us with a questioning "can i help you"? i stared at him, wide-eyed, and said, "we're looking for linda beech, do you know where we can find her?" he smiled slightly, turned on his heel, and said, "follow me"...i tripped over my own toes and tongue..."do you know her?", i asked? "yes", he said. my name is BLUE, and i am the CARETAKER of the treehouse grounds."

holy you-know-what !! keeping truer than ever to the scooby-doo theme of our adventure, we had found the shy, lone caretaker of this mysterious woman's land! we followed in great anticipation. we could not believe we had made it!!

we were led to a green, wooden house that was tucked into a remote pocket of banana trees and tapioca plants. somewhere in my gut, i thought that this was going to be the treehouse i had seen in the film, "home movie". but this wasn't it. that house had been an actual TREE house, nestled into the high branches of a giant banyan. but still, i had the strange sense that when the home's resident came to the door, it might be her..it might be the woman from that movie, whose stunning scenery - four years earlier in denver, colorado - had made me yearn to live in the islands someday...that movie, actually, had been one of the "signs" that had stuck in the periphery of my consciousness...that, when combined with so many others, had helped shuttle me further along the line of intuition that told me i was meant to be here.

a young girl came to the door and asked if she could help us. blue explained to her that we were there to see linda. chris held the dogs' collars and tried to keep them still while we anxiously waited for her to meet us at the door. "LINDA!", called the young girl, presumably another part of her staff. after a moment, a magnificent-looking woman appeared in the door frame, which was surrounded by green wood decorated with tropical floral patterns.

it was her. it was linda beech...THE WOMAN FROM THE MOVIE. "oh...my...god", i thought. she looked to be near 70, with blond hair, a flowing purple and yellow frock like something a native queen might wear, and a sensational presence. her make-up mirrored flower petals and her personal energy harbored the dense forest of her residence.

i explained that i live with star, and that she had sent us to meet her. she said she was very busy, and otherwise would've let us come in for a tour. but instead, she said she could talk to us for just a few moments. she stood atop the green staircase; chris and i stood at the base of it with the dogs, looking up at her and feeling somehow humbled, and excited like children meeting the wizard of oz!

she drew us near and said, "can i speak to you in confidence about something"? of course, we exclaimed. she told us that she and star had been friends through a third, mutual friend. and that when something had gone down between star and this other woman, sierra, she (linda) and star had stopped communicating. she expressed that she really loved star a lot, and wished to speak to her again. she asked if we could deliver that message to star. she kissed us each on the cheek, and offered her permission for us to explore the grounds and find the waterfall from which her house gained hydro-electric power.

we thanked her for her time, and walked away, dazed and elated. we found the waterfall after - again - getting lost a couple of times on the way, and ending up on a completely different trail than the easy, direct one. but off to the side of the "trail" we made ourselves, and up a ways into the sky, was nestled the real treasure...the actual TREEHOUSE. THAT was the house from the movie!! we figured that maybe she rented out the treehouse, and lived in the green house otherwise.

on our way back out to the gate, we again were intercepted by caretaker blue. we chatted with him again; he showed us the main river, and told us a bit of history as to how he came to work for linda. then he got on his haunches etched out a "map" for us in the mud. he said that it was very important that we go out a certain way, so as not to cross the neighbor's property. "he'll shoot at trespassers," blue warned us. chris hunkered down and repeated blue's instructions. i laughed and took photos of the two of them, thinking, "i cannot believe the "maps" we have had to follow today...and i can't believe that that one makes any sense to chris!!" but luckily it did, and we made it back to the trail unharmed. (see PHOTO PAGE for pictures of the mud map!)

we walked back to the car, retracing our journey across the river, along the road, and down the stream. along the way, we ran into a couple, who was following a guide - another staff from linda's property. i recognized the man and woman, as they had been guests on the boat i work on, and were out snorkeling just the day before! we stopped and talked, particularly jazzed to recount that day's INCREDIBLE whale encounter! i was 90% certain that what we had seen - very, very close to the boat - was a female humpback, giving BIRTH to her calf. she was accompanied by a male escort, as she writhed and rolled around at the surface, breathing heavily and LOUDLY. a ring of dolphins encircled her, presumably (and AMAZINGLY) protecting her from sharks or other danger while she struggled through the labor of a 4,000 pound baby whale. they were off to meet linda, too. we wished them well and continued on our way.

when we finally reached the car, we marveled at the signs posted by our parking place on the side of the road; and at and all of the "SIGNS" we had been confronted with throughout the day. after "have an unreal day", every sign we saw attempted to ward us off of our track! "end of road", "roads may be wet and dangerous", "4-wheel drive vehicles ONLY", "kapu: NOT WELCOME!", "private property", "keep out", EMPTY (on the gas guage). but we had followed our inner voices instead of these external messages - and i am absolutely certain, MOM'S silent guidance, to connect the dots of this synchronistically interwoven path to the secret treehouse.

we had been given a mission, to deliver a message and bring one back home. we had been given a recipe for an adventurous, mysterious, fun and exciting day...and we followed it to a tee. we had decided to be kids all day. and you know what? it was more fantastic and wondrous than i could ever describe!