Natural High

Lying across the horizon

Tender giant that you are

Rich, lush, enchanting

Spreading your arms, inviting

To embrace the little entranced maiden, me…

           

            The way I look at the Ko’olau Mountain Range 32 years ago and today has not change.  It was my saving grace back then when the place didn’t meet my expectations as a young immigrant who thought of the world about Hawaii.  Its beauty made me realize that after all, I still live in paradise.

To some, that might sound an exaggerated description of Kalihi. But really, nature is one of the few things that can take my breath away, making me even a little poetic.  Nature is alive, irregular, and dynamic.  It speaks to us if we only listen and it can affect us even at a glance.  I believe that nature constantly make an impact on us that is why we want to experience it and even attempt to conquer it. 

People from long ago were not satisfied staring at the sea so they built vessels to cross oceans.  When people saw colossal waves, they designed boards so they could ride them.  And why until now we hear people trying to beat the killer falls of Niagara?  It is because there is something in us that wants to experience nature no matter how treacherous it may be.

Nature is a favorite subject of photographers, painters, and illustrators.  Sometimes people become famous collectors of treasures from nature such as seashells, sand, preserved plants and animals, gems and precious stones.  While others use natural materials to create masterpieces that brings them fortune and fame.

In a highly urbanized neighborhood such as Kalihi, it seems that considering nature is neither instinctive nor realistic.  Some of us have lived here for a couple of decades now but how many of us could say that we have climbed the Kalihi Mountain let alone stare and admire it everyday?  I don’t blame you, I myself have always heard that there is a waterfall at the end of Kalihi Street but I never had gutsy friends who took me hiking back when we were teenagers.  Yet, I was grateful that my Church has a House of Worship in Kalihi Valley because from that vantage point, I have witnessed the Ko’olau Mountain Range that runs through Kalihi in its splendor and in different weather.  Among its lovely appearances, it would be beautiful in its vibrant green under the early sun, beautiful when blanketed with mist, beautiful when the sky above is bright blue punctuated with cotton white clouds, and beautiful when showered with light rain and crowned by a rainbow. 

Now I’m happy that besides admiring the mountain from a distance I was also able to climb it.  I finally hiked the trail that led to the Kalihi Ice Ponds or Na’ohia Falls.  Later, when I started the “I Love Kalihi” FB page I found the Kamanaiki Ridge hiking trail and trekked it, too.  There are also 2 other known hiking trails in Kalihi and they are the Kalihi Saddle and the Bowman Saddle.

Hiking comes in different levels so if you’re new to it, I recommend the first 2 mentioned above but even that it’s not without caution.  Go in a group especially with somebody who had already been there and/or with experienced hikers so that you can safely enjoy the hike.  And before going, it’s important to prepare by reading blogs and watching videos of experienced hikers such as these: http://notsogreathikingblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/kamanaiki-ridge.html

http://www.explorationhawaii.com/2011/09/18/kamanaiki-ridge-trail-views-from-kalihi-valley/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MArloTpbULQ

Swimming, fishing and picnicking at Sand Island Park and hiking the Ko’olau Mountain are ways to enjoy nature without spending money.  And this comes at an added advantage such as boosting our physical strength as well as feeding our soul.  Besides, enjoying nature is taking advantage of the gift and because this would become dear to us we would respect it and would be its advocate, not allowing that someday they would be taken away from us by commercialism as some of Hawaii had been.

Here is Counting Crows’ latest popular song, Big Yellow Taxi, a Joni Mitchell original that was inspired by Waikiki and her dismay of how paradise is lost through commercialism as she mentioned to journalist Alan McDougall in an interview in the early 1970s:

I wrote 'Big Yellow Taxi' on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart... this blight on paradise. That's when I sat down and wrote the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvtJPs8IDgU

Go hike Kalihi!