Blog Entry #100... a Mystery

These days I’m fortunate enough to be living within walking distance of one of Kauai’s most beautiful beaches. It’s an easy walk but it includes wading across a stream that’s anywhere from waist to chest deep, depending on the tide. Some of the signs in the area are confusing and a lot of tourists end up driving down the road I walk to the beach. They stand next to their cars and stare across the river, wondering how they ended up on the opposite side as all the other people enjoying the beach. Over and over again I give directions on how to get there by car, but many of them simply follow my example and plunge in. It’s not cold after all.

Recently, I noticed a path on the side of the road heading off into the jungle that I had never seen before. Thinking it might be a short cut to the beach, I plunged down the steep embankment to see where it went. A few feet down the path I saw a piece of wood propped up on a log. It looked like a ramp kids might have made to jump with their bikes.




I continued down the path where I saw several other small ramps and a machete stuck into a tree. Small trees and branches had been cut to clear this path.


A little further down the path I came across a much larger ramp constructed of pallets and stumps that rose up to a six foot high platform made of scrap lumber and attached to trees.



Beyond the platform the path continued for a while before ending in an impenetrable thicket. It did not continue to the beach as I had guessed. The only apparent purpose of the path was to get to the ramp and platform. But what was it? Someone had gone to considerable trouble to hack a path through the jungle, bring in all that material and build this mysterious structure. The smaller ramps suggested a course for bikes but the larger combination ramp/platform did not really make sense for jumping bikes. The ramp would make a good jump, but why the platform. I’ve been discussing the matter with friends and housemates, but no one can divine its purpose. Any ideas?