Rainbow over Waimea Photo: Sam Drevo

Kauai, Hawaii - 19 day trip
Jan. 18, 2001

Five days left and still no water! Anxiety is running high with Paul, the producer responsible for coming back to the mainland with some epic class V kayak footage for the Salomon commercial. My shoulder has been getting better every day, and after the debilitating injury I sustained on Mt. Hood (snowboarding) two days after arriving back from Asia (5 weeks ago), I am finally feeling up to the task that I was brought here to do - run class V! (Swimming in the 6 foot Hawaiian swell 4 days in a row for 2+ hours / session learning how to use an underwater housing while filming surfers was about the best physical therapy I could have ever asked for).

It is Friday, and I am the first of the group to fly back on the following Tuesday. We are running out of time, but there is finally a winter storm in the forecast, and they are calling for up to 6 inches of snow up high on the big island. Unsure of the exact timing and severity of the storm, Paul calls for the crew to get prepared to go through the motions of an exploratory river run. We load six boats (a scary sight) plus all our survival/ bivy gear, and six bodies into the Astro van, and leave the Princeville (on the north shore), headed for Waimea- a three-hour drive to the other side of the island.

About two hours into the drive, after discussing contingency plans, the cloudless sky helped me surmise that we would be joining the rest of our friends that evening at the first annual Reggae concert in Hanalei (which we already had tickets to thanks to the legendary surfer Scott Funk).

Once in Waimea, we drove north up route 550 into Waimea Canyon, and I must say we had a truly remarkable, unobstructed view of the coast. This was the first time I had even heard of "the grand canyon of Hawaii." Completely ignorant, I kept driving the paddling circus up, up, upÉ 500 feet, 1000 feet, 2000 feet, and 2,500 feet until we came to our first lookout. A small cloud layer had appeared and it started drizzling.

"It was apparent that this was a VERY steep river."

"Holy Cow! Look at that rainbow," I exclaimed while fumbling with my digital and still cameras. Extending out several miles and 3,000 vertical feet below me was the most spectacular canyon I had ever seen. The red clay reminded me of Utah, while the lush vegetation deep within the gorge resembled that of a jungle like Laos or Indonesia. How cool would it be to see this canyon from the river perspective, I thought.

Back in the Astro van we kept driving to the end of the paved roadÉ 3,000 feet, 3,500 feet, 4,000 feet. By now the rain had picked up, and our spirits were coming alive. Down onto a rutted dirt road we kept driving. I was becoming skeptical that the van would make it up this same road if it kept raining. An hour later, there were huge puddles on the road, and we were crossing streams that were muddy and rising. The occasional hoot and holler as we blasted through mud puddles brought the energy alive in the Astro van. We might get water!

The point of no return came about 2 miles from our destination, when we came to a deep rising creek that flowed swiftly over the road. After five minutes of contemplation and close examination on my part (it was about a foot deep in the middle and 25 feet wide), not to mention heavy prodding from the peanut gallery in the back, I punched it, and the van made it across. Slipping and sliding the rest of the way, we finally arrived at the end of the dirt road- Camp 10. It was POURING!

Elated, we jumped out of the van and geared up for a grueling hike to find our route down into the Kaoie Canyon. All smiles, we ran up the trail towards the Alakei swamp. Somewhere, several miles down this trail, was another trail (if you can call it that) only known to a handful of Hawaiians (mostly pig hunters) that takes you all the way down to the river. After a couple wrong turns, we finally found what we thought to be the "secret" trail. The view across the valley was breathtaking; two 500+ foot waterfalls peeled off the lush canyon walls with spectacular contrast to the green vegetation.

Climbing down onto the ridge, we quickly realized the amplitude of this endeavor. This was not going to be an easy task with a boat. But we kept hiking down. Occasionally losing the trail and using other pig trails to get back on track, we finally came to an overlook where we could see the river from about 1,500 feet off the deck.

"Wow," I exclaimed! It was apparent that this was a VERY steep river. We could make out two HUGE drops downstream of where we would put in, and then the river disappeared around the corner into an unexplored canyon below. Through my camera, I could see that the river was low, but definitely runnable. At this point we could see clearly that we were back on a trail, and it was merely 1,500 feet between the river and us. So, we decided to turn around, and try to get back before dark to call Jamie Cooper, the only member of our team that was missing.

by Sam Drevo
Sam has been paddling since the age of nine and competed in his first World Championships at 15. Now semi-retired and based in Portland, Ore, he operates Northwest River Guides, a kayaking school and rafting multi-day outfitter. To learn more about Sam, read WetDawg.com's recent interview with him.