Because the ocean surrounds the Hawaiian isles, the weather is temperamental at best.   In the span of six seconds, I have gone from being completely dry to soaked to the bone because of spotty showers.  Hawaii seems to hover in different degrees of wetness.  From what I can ascertain, nothing is ever technically dry.  It varies between being damp, moist, dewy, humid, misty or covered with sea spray.

That being said, I hate being wet.  So imagine how completely out of my comfort zone I was going hiking in a rainforest to see a waterfall.   Yes, I was out of my element trapped IN the elements.

My cousin Brandon suggested we go.  He’s a 20-year old Naval whiz kid stationed in Honolulu.   And since blood is thicker than water (get it?), I broke down and trekked through the jungle alongside him and my buddy Eric.

For the first ten minutes, I pretended I was a bit player in “Romancing The Stone” hacking my way through to find Kathleen Turner.   It made the flora and/or fauna less intimidating.   Brandon would occasionally pepper in things like, “Don’t touch that, it’s poisonous” or “People have been killed by wild boars on this trail”.   Frankly, I was more worried about the skies unleashing a torrent of water, which would surely cause an impending mudslide.

The further we hiked upward, the more it started to rain.  What started off as polite, gentle drizzle became something I’m sure only Noah could relate to.    Brandon and Eric were relishing in the moment.  I was determined to stay under the dense canopy of trees as much as possible.   I was positive I was going to melt.

The waterfall was spectacular – and practically tourist-free.  That’s a rare commodity in these parts.  We posed a lot.  Took pictures.   I tried to avoid any shots that made me look like a runner-up in the Miss Hoochie Mamma Wet T-Shirt Contest.

And while I like the out of doors as much as the next person, I probably would have liked it a bit more had I been sporting a waterproof poncho.  Or two.  And knee-high wading boots.  I didn’t actually get in to the enormous pool beneath the waterfall.  I was already dripping from sweat and falling rain.  Good thing too.  Brandon quickly pointed out most freshwater streams contain leptospirosis – a bacteria carried by – yep, you guessed it — rodents and those damn wild boars.

I didn’t see any rodents or boars … but I did come away looking like a drowned rat.  But I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Brandon.  He’s quiet and introspective and can eat his weight in sushi.  And without him, I would not have been able to check “see rainforest waterfall” off my list of things to do.