"Shhhh...You'll Scare Away The Rainbows"

Who doesn't love a rainbow?  But how many of us stop and truly enjoy Mother Nature's beautiful creation when we see one? How many of us pull over, turn towards, or even try to follow it when we see one? How about waiting and “being with” a rainbow until it goes away? Moreover, how many of us actually set forth on a drive, hike, walk, or journey for the specific purpose of seeking out or 'hunting' rainbows? Well, I do, I have, and I always will do so. And, hopefully, after reading this, you will too. Just remember these few things about rainbows: they're completely safe, non-toxic; they will not harm anyone, even if provoked; no license is required; they can be found all over the world, although for obvious reasons, some places are better than others.  Oh, and for my blonde readers, they do not come out at night...or do they? ;)

First things first, who remembers from grade school our 'ole friend ROYGBIV? Yup, ‘ole Roy, the colors of a rainbow. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. Oh, sure when you see a rainbow you see the colors, but have you really every seen the true, deep violet, or been able to distinguish it from the indigo? So many of the rainbows the average person sees are first of all, not complete from one end to another, and secondly, usually not fully developed so that each of the spectrum of colors is viewable. I, for one, don’t even remember the last time I saw the deep indigo and the violet. Oh, wait, I do! It was last week on the island of Kauai! When and if you do see a rainbow in its entirety, you will just stop in your tracks and enjoy it in its splendor as Mother Nature created it.

The vibrancy and size of the rainbows we encountered in Waimea Canyon were absolutely stunning!  Although not complete from end to end, the one pictured above was a vision to behold.

Growing up in Hawaii, I was often privileged enough to see many rainbows. Whether hiking the Aiea Loop Trail, boating and fishing off the Oahu coastline, hiking the hills behind Hawaii Kai, or just passing over the Pali or up in the Manoa and Tantalus area, rainbows were quite prevalent with the many passing showers across the island. I’m a Type A personality kind of guy.  I spent 21 years in the United States Air Force flying military jets, and currently fly 737s for a major US airline.  But, it’s my right brained side, the artistic part of me that feeds and fuels my inner soul. The music loving, picture taking, beach walking, bike riding, creative and poetry writing, concert going, SCUBA diving, recipe trying, sunrise and sunset viewing, and rainbow luvin’ part of me that lives to see what beautiful moments are in store for tomorrow. Yup, it’s that part that fertilizes my Attention Deficit Disorder too. Focus, focus.  Okay, back to rainbows… 

So, what makes a rainbow? Without getting into too much detail, because that is not what this is about, a rainbow is sunlight that is spread out into its spectrum of colors and then diverted to your eye by the water droplets that are around the area. So, Mother Nature must have water and sunlight to make a rainbow.  Translation?  It’s gotta to be raining, brah! So, who’s going hiking when it’s raining? J Well, I guess if you live in Seattle, you have no choice, huh?

Dawn and I were recently in Kauai and set forth on a day drive, hike, and walk in the famous Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Hawaiian Islands, but lush and green and so much more beautiful. I say that because I’ve only seen the Grand Canyon from the air (yes, a trip is on my bucket list) and although spectacular in it's grandiosity, the drab browns just can't compete with the colors and textures in Waimea Canyon.

We planned our day while lounging around our place in Lihue the evening prior. Type-A Pilot guy here looked at all the weather for our journey and mapped out a route. Neither of us had been to Waimea Canyon and looking at the weather, it was going to be a rainy day for a drive, hike, and walk. Oh well, we glass full people just figured it would mean less people and a better chance to catch a rainbow. By the way, unlike some other so-called sports, there is no limit on rainbows.

Off we went on our journey, driving the trusty economy rental car up to Kokee State Park. Yup, it was cold and rainy the entire drive up the windy road on the Waimea Canyon ridge line.  Only passing a few cars along the way, we kept on trekking up the small two-lane road with multiple 120-180 degree turns.  It reminded both of us of Tantalus Drive back on Oahu for those of you that know the area. Yes, we talked about turning back a few times, but it was the desire to see the Canyon and, hopefully a rainbow, that kept us going.  Along the way we stopped at a couple of "scenic via" points, ran through the rain and took a look over the edge.  Not much to see with all the fog and mist and definitely not hiking worthy.  Slipping on the mud slopes and being transported from the ridge line to the 6 o'clock news was just not in our cards that day.  What was in our cards up until that point was an abundance of wind, clouds, and rain, along with an occasional glimpse of a valley; no real "grand-like" canyon.

We pressed on. At one point Dawn even said, “I just want to see one rainbow; that would make my day.” Well, we made it to the top and to the end of the road. We were at Kalalau Lookout where the elevation is 5,148 feet and it was still cold, windy, cloudy, and the rain showers were passing by frequently. We were on one of the ‘wettest spots on earth’, as it said on the sign. Dawn went down the ridgeline a bit while I stayed at the lookout, alone, just gazing at the beauty lying within the deep valley before me. I was alone and inside I was whispering to myself, “Please, please, please, please, come on out,” in a boyish effort to entice a rainbow to appear.

Along came a small group of tourists, mostly women in their late 50’s. Then, suddenly a rainbow started to appear to the right of the canyon and then came the loud shrieks from the ladies. “Ugh, tourists,” I thought to myself inside. Such a peaceful sight, the spell of nature erased like a house of cards falling. I turned and looked at them with a smile, held my index finger up to my lips, and whispered, “Shhhhh, you’ll scare away the rainbows.” The one woman closest to me stared, smiled, and began to whisper as well. Classic!

Our first rainbow of the day was forming in the mist in the valley in front of me. Barely there, but I choose to believe, enticed by me and Dawn and our good vacation Karma, to come out and stay for a while. With the excited whispers off to the side, Mother Nature brought out a beautiful rainbow that filled the valley.  She also moved aside a large group of clouds so that we all could now see the beautiful Pacific Ocean along the Na Pali coastline. The rainbow continued to grow right before our eyes.  It was mesmerizing.

It was actually trying to form into a double rainbow as you can see in the above photo. The mist and moisture mixed with the sun now really brought out the lower rainbow. Dawn and I stood there, hand in hand, smiles aglow, as we just enjoyed the peaceful birth and growth of Mother Nature’s beautiful creation. Even the ladies near us began to really experience the moment.  It was sort of an intimate moment, sharing that rainbow with strangers and knowing that no one in the world was seeing it quite like us at that very moment.

After the rainbow disappeared into the fast moving bank of clouds and mist, I turned to Dawn and said, “Well, this entire trip to Kauai was just made worthwhile by seeing that. If we see or do nothing else for the rest of the week, I’m good."  With tears in her eyes, she agreed.

Leaving the top of the mountain, we began or journey back down the long and winding Canyon road. As it was clearing up now, we found numerous spots along the roadside that we could stop and see the beauty of the Canyon. We could also see how narrow the road was too and that if we went off the side, we were gone! Literally, gone and probably ending up hundreds if not thousands of feet below. WOW! Oh, we were seeing some beautiful grand canyon now!

Did we stop? Oh, you'd better believe we did, because on the way back down the mountain, we were treated to some of the most beautiful rainbows either of us have ever seen. With most tourists scared away by the weather, it was pleasantly unpopulated in the Canyon that day.  We didn't see many people the whole day and cars just passed by us on the way down, not even stopping to see what had caught our attention.  Little did they know, we had front row seats, baby! What a shame. Tourists! A friendly Indian family did stop and all four of them, mother, father, and 2 kids, got to see the rainbows, the youngest little girl excitedly remarking "This makes me happy inside."  I knew exactly how she felt. Beautiful rainbows…complete rainbows…double rainbows…ALL the colors of the rainbows…the indigo…the violet…Rainbows stretching completely across the canyon, miles from one side to the other. We saw one rainbow going fully across the canyon and the left side of it was ending what seemed like just a few hundred yards in front of us.  It was as if we could reach out and literally touch it. Dawn and I were just speechless at some points as we watched the rainbows peacefully come and go for us.


With the quickly passing clouds and showers, I captured the waterfall with the rainbow and the shadows of the canyon seeming to form a heart.  Do you see?

Oh, my,…leaky??? Yup. It was absolutely freaking beautiful and amazing. Of all those years growing up in Hawaii and the thousands of rainbows I have witnessed in my lifetime, this was a kaleidoscope ballet of rainbows like I have never seen before in my life. Ever!

By the time we made it to the bottom of the long and winding road, the day had cleared up and the sun came out as the clouds dissipated. For the last 10 miles or so, we had a full rainbow that stayed off to our left the entire way. We laughed and joked that it was actually following us home. It really seemed that way too. You can see the last of it in the picture below, just off to the right.

The last rainbow was with us all the way to the beach where we then began to hunt a sunset. ;)

So, now, for those of you who stayed with me to the end here and really enjoy and appreciate a rainbow, here is my ‘Catch of the Day’ and the one that made our day.

It will now have a permanent home as a 16 x 20 canvas in our home. During the “Kaleidoscope Ballet” I took many pictures, too many to post here, but I will always have them available to share. I took quite a bit of HD video too, which I may post at a later date. 

Well, are you rainbow lover now? You may have even learned something too. Just remember, if the conditions are right, "Shhhh...You'll Scare Away The Rainbows."

Thank you for “Chasing Rainbows” with Captain Bobby Mitchel and maybe we can journey together some day.