The current caretaker of linda beech's magnificent treehouse, where chris and i trekked the first time we came here together, caught a ride with us down into the valley! and so kindly, he offered to take us on a personal tour of the grounds, and the actual treehouse itself. our awesome little jeep bounced lightly over the rugged valley floor with ease. so we drove all the way to linda's property - across rivers, down rivers, next to rivers, through dense foliage, and into what seemed like a fantasy land.
FOR MORE ON THE TREEHOUSE:
Check out a cool documentary called "Home Movie". It came out probably ten years ago, and it the documentation (by one filmmaker's account) of the 5 most interesting homes in the country. Linda's is one of them. I saw this movie years before I moved to Hawaii, and in fact remember it being one of the things that made me want to move here.
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Our hike to hi'ilawe falls in waipio valley was saturated with sensory pleasure and intense fun. This trip was new to both Chris and me, which made it all the more exciting!
we were immersed in cool, beautiful water all day long.
Abandoning our backpacks here, we wore nothing but bathing suits and bare feet; with help of hands for gripping and arms for swinging between rocks, we used upper body strength when footwork was tricky and technical, and we clamored up riverways like a primal adam and eve. covered in mud and wet. muscles in motion. the smell of everything pungently GREEN, damp and alive!
Our happy golden retriever faced challenges with us across every procession of huge, moss-covered bolders, and through every vein and tributary of the river. she cried and cried at times, not believing in her own abilities. but when pushed and encouraged, she made leaps and bounds and was very proud of herself! (as we were of her).
We spent the afternoon climbing waterfalls as they ascending up a rainforest river, rapids cascading over our heads and faces and bodies at times. 
we journeyed...we adventured. we followed each other and the call of the falls as they beckoned us to continue along this unknown path.
(For perspective: Find Chris in this picture on the left. He's sitting on a rock, against the backdrop of the very farthest cliff wall in the waipio valley. In the photo, he's about the size of a bit of dust! From this far away - and really until your own hands are within touching distance of the waterfall - it looks as if it's completely dry. But once you swim out to it, you end up under its brilliant rainstorm!)we reached the promised pool, turquoise and majestic, where golfball sized droplets pelted us from the heavens as we finally reached the very back of the valley. the falls dropped down the face of a sheer cliff wall that reached upwards of 2000 feet into the sky.
We hiked back, drove home, and marveled - once again - at the beauty and magic that continually bless our adventures.
1 comment:
Hi guys! In 1975, we moved to the Big Island and lived in Waipio for a couple of weeks along the beach. Massive riptides, so we always had to be careful swimming. I remember how steep it was to reach (we hiked in), how beautiful the valley floor was because of all the intensely colored impatien flowers, the big "lake" in the middle surrounded by reeds where we'd go to catch tilapia, the waterfalls that we used to bathe in (organic biodegradable shampoo, of course ;), and the treehouse, where our friend Gary was living. At the time, it was hippy haven supreme, where we'd go to smoke pakalolo and meditate. Gary would come to Hilo every once in a while to work with us in the food co-op there, and many years later after i'd returned to the mainland, I was working in a shoe store selling this guy some hiking boots; we started talking about Hawaii and Waipio...I suddenly recognized him - it was Gary! (what are the odds of that?) He was on the mainland to visit one of his kids who lived in the sierra mountains. He'd moved on from Waipio, and I recently saw the latest asking price for the treehouse, which made me roar with laughter - over a million bucks! Sounds like they're still smoking pakalolo in there to me. All the best!
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