Back in 2006, just weeks after I first started dating my now wife, I went on a two week trip to Hawaii for the first time. I spent a week in Oahu staying with a college friend, and then a week in Maui. The trip left a lasting impression on me, but there was one point where I was lucky to have survived.

My greatest resource when I was on both islands was the Oahu Revealed and Maui Revealed books. Perhaps my favorite part of the books was how they highlighted where all the hidden paths were located to get to secret waterfalls and beaches that most tourists were unaware of their existence. So one day on Maui, I decided to pull off the road and explore a trail. I had my bathing suit and a shirt on, flip flops, my phone and my camera both in plastic bags and in my bathing suit pockets. The Maui Revealed book promised a spectacular waterfall at the end, so I tossed that in my pocket too.

The first thing I noticed was you randomly pull off the road at certain mile markers, and just find a place to park on the side of the road. In most circumstances, you have to pull the vehicle into vegetation as roads are narrow and curvy, and you need to make sure you keep the parked vehicle out of the way to traffic. I remember the vehicle surrounded in tall grasses and bamboo, as I narrowly squeezed out of the car. So once I felt comfortable, I started my way down the path.

As you can tell from the photo, the vegetation was dense, and the surroundings were wet. So I carefully made my way through the cover. I felt like a kid in a fort as I made my way through the dense bamboo forest. It was beautiful!

Eventually, as I made my way down a hill, carefully holding onto the bamboo to support me, I came across a gulch with a small log traversing the opening. Even though it was only a several foot wide opening, the fall was quite extensive. So I very carefully made my way across, and then transcended through some more bamboo.

Crossing the river required climbing across giant boulders and several other crazy maneuvers to continue on the path on the other side. Then, within a several minute walk, I finally reached my destination. A spectacular waterfall all to myself. I literally just stood in amazement staring at the falls.

I do not recall exactly how long I stood watching the falls, but eventually a group of 3 or 4 other people my age arrived to see the falls too. No longer did I have my secret Hawaiian hideaway. Eventually the group decided to head back, and I decided I had seen enough too, and followed them back to the car.

As we came back to the river crossing, I was at the back of the group, crossing the same large boulders, and I seem to even remember some Tarzan-like vine swinging. As I made my way across, I slipped on one of the rocks, fell in, and continued to wash downstream between the rocks. I eventually fell into a pool between rocks, but I could not get out. Luckily, the other people in the group realized what had happened, and came running to assist me out. I was grateful for their assistance, because if I had been alone, I am not quite sure what the outcome would have been.

So soaking wet, I eventually made my way back to the vehicle. However, that is where I learned the consequences of my mistake.

1) I wore flip-flops through a hike-like setting. Trying to climb up slippery slopes when wringing wet myself was a feat in itself. Wearing tennis shoes would have been a better decision when heading into an unknown hike.

2) Remember that camera and phone I had inside bags in my pockets. Well in the process of getting swept downstream, both bags opened, and my camera and phone were soaked from sitting in water. At this point I was only within my first week of the trip, so to be without a camera in the beautiful land of Hawaii was such a disappointment.

So as soon as I got back to the car, I proceeded to try and dry out both electronics. The big problem was my phone was the only line of communication I had to my friend back on Oahu, as well as my family back home or any other civilization, and now I am out in the wilderness of Maui. The phone was my lifeline, and if I truly got into a situation, I was stranded. Even in 2006, pay phones were pretty much obsolete and unavailable.

3) I always knew the rule, but on this trip, when I was alone for a good part of it, I could not follow the “always bring a buddy” rule. What if I really would have been alone and got hurt or into a predicament? I was out in the middle of nowhere with probably no cell phone reception. My friend was an island away. Looking back, while I did get to experience a spectacular waterfall, it was plain stupid to venture out alone. I could have easily jeopardized not only the rest of my trip, but also my life. I considered myself fortunate for how the scenario played out.

For the rest of the day I continued to make my way around the island, with the windows open trying to dry out my phone and camera. Eventually I did get my phone to work again, thankfully, but my camera was fried. Needless to say, for the rest of Maui I did not get to capture any more photos, and back then the camera phones were not very good either to use to my advantage. Fortunately, once I got back to Oahu, I was able to use my friends camera for the remainder of the trip.

So make sure to really think about the what-ifs when venturing out on some of those hidden trails leading to beautiful waterfalls. You never know when fate may not be in your favor.