The great moment finally came on Friday afternoon. Jack Harter offers the only 'doors off' flights around Kauai. There is a maximum of 4 people per helicopter so everyone get's a scenic seat. Part of the check-in routine is weighting every guest including all his or her equipment. Needless to say, everybody was carrying at least on camera. Some of them had up to three on them! After the pre-flight briefing where we were instructed in the usage of the lifejackets we are supposed to wear we were transported to Lihue airport. There we just had to wait for 10-15 min for the last round of guests to land.
Jack Harter operates three Hughes 500 helicopters simultaneously. So a total of 12 guest can be accommodated per hour. They don't even stop the rotors from spinning while offloading and on-boarding passengers. One after the other the passengers are escorted to their predefined seat and strapped into the either 4-point or 3-point security belt. Everybody get his or her own headset. The selective noise reduction of the headphones is really astonishing. They block out almost all noise from the engine and the rotor. I was strapped in to the rear right seat one can see on the photo. Doors off really means doors off, one really has to trust the security belts as there is no other thing preventing one from falling out.
After a pointed reference to the 'Aloha'-Bags (aka barfing bags) by our pilot Christopher we lifted off. Helicopter flying, especially if you are basically sitting outside, is a lot like a roller coaster ride. Christopher really enjoys his job and makes the experience a lot of fun.
We first went west-southwest from Lihue to reach the entrance of the Waimea Canyon. Our pilot obviously doesn't like flying in a straight line, so we ditched and dived around the ridges of Kawakini. You really can feel the updrafts and downdrafts along the ridge-lines.
Of course we went by the Jurassic Park Falls (actually called Manawaiopuna Falls). The falls can only be reached by helicopter.
We barely crested a ridge before a steep dive into the Waimea canyon itself. We got near to the falls I've seen earlier in day from the lookout point. Needless to say flying directly to them is much more spectacular. But the best was yet to come. After perhaps five minutes in the canyon we went over the northwestern edge of the canyon to fly down to the Na Pali coast proper. Again one has to see it with one own's eye to believe how impressive this part of Kauai really is. The pictures can only hint at the massive proportions of the steep valleys.
After to short a time at Na Pali coast we went again to the center of the island to a deep valley just beneath Waialeale. This is supposed to be one of the wettest place on earth! As always it actually rained here. The sheer cliffs are totally covered in wet mossy green and feature uncountable waterfalls.
After this short shower, which was actually unpleasant because of the turbulence of the rotor we backed out of the valley and made our way back to Lihue airport. After about 65 minutes this incredible experience was over.
I can only recommend doing this when you have the chance. I'm sure I will never forget the feeling of freedom and intensity.
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