Dangerous beauty

Beyond the stunning landscapes, gushing waterfalls, picturesque pools and towering peaks is an unavoidable truth: Hawaii can kill you.

There are all kinds of precarious places, jagged edges, slippery paths and powerful forces of nature ready to unleash their full potential to cause injury or worse if you’re not careful.

Hawaii almost killed Jacque Turner. Nearly 10 years ago the mother of four fell 150 feet from one of the state’s most dangerous hiking trails, Mount Olo­mana’s third peak, and lived to tell the tale.

Turner, then 43, was part of an organized hiking group trekking across the mountain near Kai­lua when she learned another hiker had fallen on the trail behind her. Being a Queen’s Medical Center emergency room technician, there was no question she would turn back to render aid.

"I was rushing and not concentrating like I should have been," she recalled.

As she was maneuvering back down the narrow and steep ridge, she grabbed a rock that crumbled in her hand, launching her into a flip and then a 15-story free fall.

Miraculously, she clipped a tree and crash-landed on her 2-liter water backpack, leaving her with plenty of cuts and bruises and a busted knee but very much alive. Incredibly, both she and the hiker she was hoping to rescue walked out with the help of their companions.

Others haven’t been so lucky — the latest wilderness fatality was an off-duty Hono­lulu firefighter who fell to his death along the same section in January.

With summer officially underway as of this weekend, it’s time to enjoy the paradise that is Hawaii. Most of you will enter the wild and return without a scratch. Others? Well, let’s just point out the Hono­lulu Fire Department went on 150 wilderness rescues last year and has already made 82 this year.

There are many places off the beaten path where you can sustain injury — or lose your life. The Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser Today section’s list of Hawaii’s most dangerous places includes locations with a history of trouble or a reputation for peril, some by virtue of easy access, some not.

Tourists are particularly vulnerable. Vacations are supposed to be fun, after all, and Hawaii is a fantasy land where real-life dangers do not intrude — at least not in the travel brochures and on websites.

But that’s not the case, according to Jessica Fer­ra­cane, spokes­woman for Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park: "These are wild places. This is not Disneyland or a theme park. You can get into trouble if you’re not careful."

The list of things that can hurt you in the great outdoors is substantial: Mountain streams can suddenly become raging rivers. Idyllic waterfalls can unleash killer boulders. Freshwater pools and rivers offer unseen hazards and slippery footing for jumpers, undercurrents for swimmers and potentially deadly leptospirosis infection for all.

There were 21 drownings in Hawaii rivers and streams between 2007 and 2011, according to the state Department of Health.

One of the scariest ways to drown is in a flash flood, a phenomenon that can strike without warning in Hawaii. A squall high in the mountains can be out of sight from those basking in the sun downstream. In some cases, survivors have described walls of water hurtling down narrow valleys with the speed of a freight train.

Jake Barefoot, CEO of Tom Barefoot Tours, remembered a time he was at Twin Falls on Maui, a popular Hana Highway stop with a stream, pool and waterfalls in a narrow gulch. He witnessed a tranquil scene morph into a raging torrent within a minute’s time.

"The level of flash flooding in Hawaii is ridiculous compared to other places," Barefoot said.

As for hikers, there are lots of amazing trails on all the Hawaiian Islands leading to scenic lookouts. Many of the mountain paths are quite narrow, slick from regular rainfall and crumbly with a steep drop-off on one or both sides.

"It’s easy to trip and fall," said David Jen­kins, Hono­lulu Fire Department spokes­man. "All it takes is one misstep and you’re off."

Our list of dangerous places spotlights hazardous mauka areas with one exception: the notorious Queen’s Bath on Kauai, where people don’t intend to enter the ocean, but can end up being slammed against the rocks and swept out to sea by rogue waves.

At the most visited dangerous place — Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island — you can get into all kinds of peril, from breathing toxic volcanic fumes or walking into a surprise eruption to getting caught on a collapsing lava bench or sprayed by scalding water at an ocean entry, from getting lost during a backcountry hike to being unprepared for a blizzard atop 13,678-foot Mauna Loa.

Park officials say nearly 5,000 visitors a day stay safe by following the rules, obeying signs and avoiding foolish behavior.

That’s probably a good rule of thumb anywhere you go in Hawaii.

Have a safe summer.