The jagged cathedral peaks, enshrouded in mist and gently cut by rays of streaming sunlight. The continual hum of water falling on white sand greeted by the ebb and flow of endless waves. The richness of the green valley watered
The jagged cathedral peaks, enshrouded in mist and gently cut by rays of streaming sunlight. The continual hum of water falling on white sand greeted by the ebb and flow of endless waves. The richness of the green valley watered by fresh streams, growing pregnant in summertime with its bounty of tropical fruits. This is Kalalau.
In her beauty and her quiet morning song, Kalalau has called many people to come and know her. For some it is only a brief encounter, gazing at her mountaintop peaks through helicopter windows, or while sipping Mai Tais on a sunset cruise. Others come to know her better. They arrive in kayaks or on foot via a treacherous, 11-mile trail.
For most, stays in the valley are abbreviated. In, 1974 the state Department of Land and Natural Resources created a permit system, which by law restricted stays to one week. But many people have answered the call to Kalalau and have stayed.
One of the most well-known figures who stayed was Koolau. In 1893, Koolau discovered that he had taken ill with leprosy. A leathery character who formerly worked as a saddlemaker, he decided to go to Kalaupapa, with the condition that he would be allowed to take his son and beloved wife, Piilani, with him.
In the final moments before his departure, Koolau was in formed that his family would not be able to follow him. This infuriated Koolau, who took his family and fled to Kalalau to escape his Kalaupapa fate. Koolau was pursued but never found.
Published reports indicated that the turn of the century marked the end of the Hawaiians who lived in the valley for over 1,000 years. John Hanohano Pa, a former resident of Kalalau, was quoted as saying, “Sometime in the early 1900s, people started leaving the valley. I guess that the old people died and the young people weren’t interested in living the old way.”
That was until the mid-1950s when Bernard Wheatley, a prominent East Coast doctor, had a spiritual awakening, gave up all of his possessions and set off for the distant island of Kaua’i. When he arrived, he took a trip into the Koke’e mountains to gaze down upon the tranquility of the lush Kalalau valley. He decided that the next leg of his spiritual quest would be spent there.
“Here I feel close to God,” he explained in a subsequent interview when he experienced a brief period of fame as he became known as the Kalalau hermit.
Wheatley set up camp in one of the caves on the beach and began his simple life, gathering fruits from the valley and reflecting on nature. He said in the 1954 interview, “There is great beauty in the sand when the sun or moonlight outline the ripples made by the wind. There is more here than quietness. There is a big peace. There is music in the wind and in the surf.”
Wheatley’s stay in Kalalau ushered in the various inhabitants of the valley, who during the 1960s built a large community of people. It was during this period that Kalalau received a great deal of public attention as individuals evading the draft, large quantities of marijuana and a criminal in hiding were found in the valley.
“We were all so free back then,” reminisces one Kaua’i resident who spent his young 20s living between Taylor camp and Kalalau.
A recent trip into Kalalau found a group of people who had continued the legend of this lifestyle. In the late afternoon sun, they sat naked at the edge of a large pool in the back of the valley.
“I came in here on a trip and just never wanted to leave,” said Lisa, a recent graduate in anthropology from Humboldt State University in California. Four months ago, she arrived in Kalalau and decided to stay through the summer and into the winter.
“I want to spend at least half of my years here. This land teaches you so many things,” she said.
Her companion sat next to her, reading Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet.” A former computer programmer, Guda explained how he left the mainland looking for a “simpler way of life,” arrived in Oahu and heard about Kalalau from a friend. For the last three years he has been living in the valley for periods of up to six months.
Guda said that residency in Kalalau has an order of communality. He said that until recently, the valley housed a shared kitchen and a “library of beautiful books.” He even made a reference to “the mayor” of Kalalau.
Though the summers yield mangos, avocados, tamarinds, oranges, taro and other wildly growing fruits, import is the general rule for Kalalau resident. Inhabitants generally hike the trail anywhere between one week and one month to restore their supplies.
One group of people has developed a system in which the group of women lived in the valley and one of their friends lived outside in Haena. The latter brought supplies to her friends every other week. Late last year, she had already hiked the trail 32 times in 2001 alone.
“I have become intimate with this trail, and have given a name to every rock and large tree,” she said.
Dell, another individual on the path into Kalalau, said, “There is a deep communion that you exchange with people when you are in the valley, but I often forget because I am totally present when I am in there.”
He recently moved to a different valley along the Na Pali Coast, where there was “less activity.” He gathered lilikois and avocados and gave them to passersby for the exchange of a possible donation.
“Some of the haoles from the mainland have never had an avocado before, and I can be the first to share it with them,” he said.
This life without cell phones, cars and an electrical appliance for any given need is not for everyone. And it’s illegal, according to state law as enforced by DLNR.
In order to enforce this law, routine checks are performed in which rangers enter the area to ensure that the laws are not being broken. They can issue citations and fines up to $500, as well as arrests.
One raid occurred shortly after Sept. 11 last year. This time, there were 15 rather than three or four rangers on the mission, according to Guga, who called it a reaction to “all of the tension and violence in the world right now.”
According to a DLNR official on Kaua’i, chief of enforcement Tarey Low, who has worked in the department for 11 years, the routine checks occur on a random basis to ensure that the law is being observed.
“People think that we are a bunch of vigilantes. That’s not what we are. We’re responsible to do our jobs and that’s what our jobs call for,” he said.
DLNR provides search and rescue service, protects the state lands resources, and tenforces laws that protect historical and archealogical sites. Low explained that such violations include tree-cutting, fire hazards and archeological disturbances such as removing rocks from ancient heiau sites.
Many Kaua’i citizens agree with DLNR’s position. Ipo Torio is one of them.
In 1998, Torio led a group of Hawaiian students into the Na Pali Coast to learn Hawaiian protocol, prayers and rituals, in addition to how to care for the land and water. During this trip, Torio and students encountered a group of people sitting naked atop a sacred ancient Hawaiian site. Published reports quoted Torio as stating, “If you don’t know what you’re doing , what you’re caring for, you don’t belong there.”
Regarding the question of Kalalau residency, Low says, “What you need to understand is that on the Na Pali Coast, a permit is required to determine a certain number of people per day. If you have too many people, restrooms are overused. These people camp outside of the designated camping sites, where they urinate and deficate in the bush. That can create disease and other problems.”
But individuals continue to come to Kalalau and stay. On one recent hike, three young people with huge packs on their back had already lived in the valley between three and six months. This time they were planning to stay indefinitely. One of the women said, “You have to give everything up to live in Kalalau, which goes against all that we are taught. There are certain risks involved in a decision like that, but the rewards of a peaceful life and everyday beauty is an invaluable thing.”
