Lithified Cliffs: Makawehi, Kauai

Posted on Saturday, Nov 19, 2011

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Q: What’s the difference between a 4×4 and a rental car?
A: You can take a rental car anywhere.

I love that joke because there is so much truth in it. But what does it have to do with the lithified cliffs east of Po’ipu, you may ask. Let’s just say that a certain driver who shall remain nameless left a little bit of our rental car along the heavily rutted “road” that leads to this area.

These cliffs are composed of sediment that has been transformed into rock over time—rock that could be described as a cross between swiss cheese and Death Valley’s Devils Golf Course. It would be easy to stumble and fall here; the results would not be pretty. This rock is as sharp as it looks.

Hoping for beautiful light, we waited until early evening to come out. We ended up with clouds instead that eventually became a brief but intense rainstorm which left us all soaked. Not a problem though because, as I reminded everyone, the rain in Hawaii was warm. (This had become a little bit of a running joke for us. The rain did not feel particularly warm.)

[Click on a thumbnail to view the entire image.]

©2011 Timothy Linn. All Rights Reserved.