Earlier I said I’d post something about Waialeale Crater itself, so before letting this drop down the board, I’ll do that. It’s one of the most memorable places I’ve ever been. The crater is a semi-circle of sheer cliffs dropping thousands of feet from the eastern rim of Waialeale, the extinct (for about 400,000 years) central volcano on Kauai. The cliffs face out through a canyon toward the ocean. Waialeale gets something like 450 inches of rain per year, sometimes as much as 600 inches, giving rise to its longtime claim to be the wettest spot on earth. (Its “title” is challenged by a couple places in India, depending on what period of time you look at, but it’s certainly one of the wettest.)
As John noted in his post, despite the prior assumption that it’s the remains of a caldera, the “crater” was actually carved down into the volcanic mountainside by the heavy rainfall, rather than being blasted or bubbled up from below. (The real caldera is under the Alakai Swamp, on the broad mountaintop beyond the cliffs, long filled in and overgrown by a low, dense jungle.) But the caldera story is perpetuated by the helicopter pilots (including the one who took us there), who are the only people who go there regularly, due to its inaccessibility and the heavy rain. (I learned about the actual geology just in the past few months, reading online, after writing earlier drafts of this poem about a year ago.)
Regardless of the geology, it’s a beautiful and mysterious place. I’ve been to Kauai four times over the years, totaling about a month, and I’ve still never seen the peak of Waialeale, even from a distance, because it’s shrouded by clouds all but a few days a year. The last time we were there about seven years ago, we took the helicopter trip around the island and to Waialeale Crater. As we hovered by the somber, stream-covered cliff, we still couldn’t see the top—a blanket of clouds above us kept it out of view. One can well understand why it was considered a sacred place--its inaccessibility and mystery, as well as its being the source of the water that feeds Kauai’s seven rivers and lush vegetation. The early Hawaiian route to their altar on top was via a sheer finlike ridge to the northeast that was so hazardous no one’s been up that way in the past 100 years. The only way to the top on foot now is by an arduous multi-day hike from the other side of the mountain, which very few folks ever attempt.
Here’s a link to a photo from a helicopter I found online, with the cliffs approaching in the distance under typical cloud cover. When hovering close to the cliffs, you can see many more, smaller streams as well, that you can’t make out in the photo or the excellent video John posted.
http://www.heathermacauley.com/kauai%20Crater.jpg
This last link is apparently a rare instance when the clouds cleared from the mountaintop, but the streams were in full torrent. I didn’t actually see this myself. (I’m guessing the picture is a bit overexposed for artistic effect, but it’s a dramatic shot.)
http://165.248.241.70/Seward/Sada/Water/cratrwet.gif
‘Hope those links work.
Thanks again to all who participated!
--Bruce