I have been around the world and seen many breathtaking views and pristine natural vistas, but my experiences this last weekend might have surpassed any place that I have visited. Pohnpei is the second wettest place on Earth and its volcanic slopes are covered in lush greenery and flowing rivers. I have been marveling at the natural beauty of the island and appreciating the overabundance of trees and ferns, however I had only seen the tip of the iceberg. A day’s hike up the mountain would bring me to one of the most amazing places that exists on this planet.
Early on Sunday morning I met up with 4 of my friends and got a ride up a winding road towards the small village of Salapwuk. The rural community is nestled in the mountains and lies at the base of a series of trails that leads farther up to the source of the rivers that rush into the ocean. We had heard of a legendary hike that took you on a tour of 6 waterfalls. Luckily, one of the current Peace Corps volunteers lives in Salapwuk and her host father is a guide for the trails. She arranged for us to meet him and embark on our journey to the waterfalls.
Our first site at the beginning of the hike was a large water buffalo that was swarming with flies as he chewed on some grass in the jungle. I was quite surprised to see this large foreign beast just chillin in the forest, but apparently water buffalo are rather common on Pohnpei. We continued past the hefty horned creature and entered the thick of the jungle. The path began to dwindle and it became imperative to watch every step. I call it a path, but in actuality it was a randomly trampled line that barreled its way through the overgrown greenery. There is no possible way that we could have ever known where we were going if we didn’t have a guide. We would have been lost within 5 minutes and followed a water rivulet to our doom. Our guide carried a big machete and hacked his way through the thick stuff to clear a reasonable passageway for us to traverse.
We scampered over logs, hopped from rock to rock, slid down muddy inclines and crawled up steep slippery slopes. I consider myself fairly nimble and did pretty well with keeping my balance. However, I cannot say the same for my counterparts. My friend Lee in particular was struggling with every step. He must have fallen close to thirty times throughout the duration of our hike. He tripped on roots, slipped in puddles and stubbed his toes on rocks. His arms, legs and ass were brutally bruised by the end of the day. He isn’t really a klutz; the hiking terrain was just ridiculously difficult. I would not consider the hike to be an overly strenuous cardiovascular workout, however the agility and grit necessary to conquer the trail should not be underestimated. The faint of heart wouldn’t stand a chance on this “path” through the jungle.
After about an hour of jungle trekking, we finally reached our first waterfall. We threw down our bags and dove into the cool pool below the falls. The water was the first cold thing we had felt since being in the Pacific, needless to say it was quite refreshing. We waded around and gazed up at the falling water for a while and then set back out on our way to the next waterfall. In just a few minutes, we reached another majestic stream of water cascading down a carapace. Again, we hopped in the water and washed the dirt from our bodies and the dripping sweat from our eyes. At this point, we would have been happy with a fantastic day of hiking and swimming. These two waterfalls were both breathtaking and could easily have brochures written about them to attract tourists. However, we were just warming up.
From this junction forth, our trail took a decidedly different turn. Instead of climbing hills and skipping over fallen logs, we spent the majority of the rest of the day fording rivers and rock hopping across streams. We burst out of the jungle and were faced with a substantially sized river. It was not very deep and wasn’t rushing at a fast pace, but it was challenge to cross. Throughout the day, we probably crossed this river approximately 15 times. Needless to say, this presented numerous problems of slippage and slidage for our group of amateur hikers. Many hilarious missteps elicited bursts of laughter from the onlookers and bruised tailbones for the victims. The slimy stones at the bottom of the creek were a perfect trap for the careless foot of an American visitor.
Fortunately, I came prepared. Before I left for Micronesia, I invested in a crazy looking pair of multi-shoes called Vibram Five Fingers. These shoes were originally designed to emulate barefoot running. They have individual slots for each toe and have a thin rubber padding for support on the bottom. They are supposed to be good for feet and posture while you are running; and bring us back to our ancient roots of walking barefoot. Then they decided that these types of shoes would also be great for water. So they made them out of a water-friendly neoprene type material. The shoes become a trendy fad and began to be used for hiking, kayaking, running and swimming. In my opinion, they work perfectly for me here in Micronesia. First off, I can walk on coral reefs without fear of scrapes and have the ability to swim without significant drag. On my hike, I was able to seamlessly transition from water to land without having any uncomfortable or cumbersome problems. I could swim in the water, navigate through the slippery river rocks, and bound my way through the jungle with ease. My other friends struggled with trying to make due with shoes, thongs, or strap sandals. None of those worked. Shoes get wet and can’t handle the water. Thong sandals are terrible for hiking and fall off in the water. Strap sandals are adequate for water and land, but do not provide the agility and comfort that come with my toe shoe things. All of my friends were falling on their asses all day…I did not fall once. I never slipped in the river, I never fell on the trail, I never stubbed a toe and I never had to change my shoes. These Vibram Five Finger shoes may look foolish, but they are the most resourceful things ever.
Anyways, enough about my awesome frog feet shoes; let me get back to the waterfall hike. We crossed the river for the first time and came upon the tallest waterfall on our hike. I am terrible at estimating distances, so I am not even gonna apply a concrete height to the falls. Suffice to say, I had to crick my neck in order to see the top. We gawked at the sprinkling display of white water pouring down the cliff and then continued our adventure up the course of the river.
After another half hour of hiking, we climbed up a small face of trickling water and came to our fourth waterfall. This was a double waterfall. A thinner stream of water pounded into a large rock basin and then the water spread out and flowed over the edge to form a larger wall of water. This waterfall also had a cave hiding behind its veil of liquid. We swam through the forceful flow of water and pulled ourselves up onto the rocks behind the falls. There was a cave that stretched for an unknown distance back into the mountain. The crevice got progressively smaller and nastier, so we couldn’t get all the way to the back; but we threw stones into its depths and never heard a clank or splash so we assumed it continued for quite a ways. We snapped some more pictures and joked about the mysterious monsters that lurked in the recesses of the endless cave and then moved along our way.
The fifth waterfall was the smallest, so we didn’t spend much time admiring its attributes. Instead we walked and discussed the amazing natural environment that we were experiencing. On our entire trip, we never saw a piece of trash. We never saw a hint of a human presence. We simply saw nature at its finest. A clear river of pure water meandering through a lush green jungle that speckles the hillsides of an ancient volcano. Huge trees towering over the abundant undergrowth of vines and ferns. Flowers, bushes, birds and sunshine encompass everything all around us. Even if this place did not have gigantic waterfalls, it would still be an unbelievable display of beauty of and magnificence.
To reach the final waterfall, we had to take off our back packs and swim through a narrow channel of the river. Our guide went first and grabbed two stones to take into the water with him. He banged them together as he swam through the chute of deep water. He told us that he was smacking the stones to scare away the giant eels. He wasn’t joking….giant eels apparently reside all throughout the waters of Pohnpei. Usually they aren’t aggressive, but it was still enough to make us swim briskly through the channel.
As we reached land on the other side, we were greeted by an extraordinary finale to our waterfall excursion. Another double waterfall burst out of a V-shaped crack in the cliffside at the back of a rounded semi-circle of volcanic rock. It reminded me of a miniature glacial cirque with a calm lake at the base like the ones I am accustomed to in the Sierras. There was a gigantic pool at the bottom of the falls and we spent about half an hour hanging around the area. We scaled a wall on the side of the pool and did some cliff jumping into the deep blue pool of water.
It was a picture perfect day….the sky was clear, the temperature was pleasant, the birds were chirping and the river was rushing. We were on the top of a mountain on a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific bathing in a clear pool at the bottom of a regal waterfall. This place has probably been envisioned as heaven in the dreams of people around the world. It has all the elements of paradise rolled into one. And I get experience it all under the cost-efficient and morally respectable title of being a Peace Corps Volunteer. Damn, I’m lucky.
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