Don't go chasin' waterfalls

that are 8 miles of up and down rock hopping hopping away without popping popping Ibuprofen and guzzling gallons of water before and during. I ache! But it was worth it, as I hope the pics show.

Daughter and I under a mini-falls in one of the many natural pools along the way. There are, no kidding, at least a hundred of these wonderfully refreshing pools, each with one or two or three small waterfalls of its own.


Part of Hanakapiai beach. Don't swim at this beach. Too dangerous. Pretty, though.


This isn't much of a pic. After I snapped this I turned around and took a pic of the entire Napali coastline. But my niece and nephew are in that pic and I don't know if they'd dig being on this site, so I can't show you. Sorry.

Bamboo pod. There were 5 or 6 of these along the way. I believe that entire thing stems from a single root. Kinda cool. The bamboo poles rub against each other, making creaking-staircase sounds. Eerie.


The top of the falls. It is about 3 times as long as this picture, so you're seeing the top third there.

Daugher and I are the two bobbing heads on the right. We were just under the falls before this pic was taken. The water was friggin' freezing. I've swum under this falls before. It doesn't drag you down into the water, nor push you under too much, so you can go under it and feel the water pounding hard onto your face and feel like God is breathing on you or something. It is pretty amazing.

Don't do it if you don't know what you're doing. Rocks fall inside the falls all the time, so you're taking your life in your hands. Also, there are times when the power of the water WILL kill you, not by landing on you but by pulling you under and rolling you around until you drown and then continuing to roll you around until you're hamburger. Tourists beware.

My daugther, unbeknownst to me, had followed me right into the heart of the falling water, something I never would have imagined nor allowed had I known. She went into the pool after me- I didn't even know she was swimming. She then went under the water for a few seconds, during which I had 3 heart attacks, but she did it just because the spray was hurting her face.

At times like that I have to remind myself not to turn her into a coward- not to freak out and teach her to fear things that aren't necessarily dangerous. But that was a heart-stopping moment, I'll tell you that.


To the left and behind the falls, catching a little breather.

That's it! Many thanks to those of you who continue to check the blog now and then even though I'm updating rarely because I'm focused on JACOB!