Kayak and hike outing ends OK A woman and her teenage daughter spent the night in the jungles around the Kalihiwai Falls in Kilauea before they were found unhurt by a search helicopter last Saturday morning. The hikers, both whom
Kayak and hike outing ends OK
A woman and her teenage daughter spent the night in the jungles around the Kalihiwai Falls in Kilauea before they were found unhurt by a search helicopter last Saturday morning.
The hikers, both whom were not identified, were spotted at 7:30 a.m. Saturday by an Inter-Island Helicopter crew, including a Kaua’i County firefighter aboard.
The hikers were taken to Princeville Airport, according to Charlie Hiramoto, acting battalion chief with the county Fire Department.
The hikers and another man began paddling up the Kalihiwai River in kayaks at noon Friday. When they didn’t return by 6 p.m., children of the woman contacted authorities for help, Hiramoto said.
Off-duty firefighter Steven Fountain and firefighters Sam Lee Jr. and Makali’i Andrade motored up the river in a private boat owned by Fountain. They began a search around one of several waterfalls, and after finding nothing, summoned a search and rescue squad from the Lihu’e Fire Station.
Searchers came upon the male kayaker when they reached the river mouth, Hiramoto said.
The man in the group, who also was not identified, said he and the others got lost looking for various waterfalls by the river, and he told them to wait while he went for help, according to Hiramoto.
It took the man an hour to reach the riverbank where they had left their kayaks before they began their hikes to the falls, Hiramoto said.
The search team began combing the jungle at 7:30 p.m. and ended the search at 3 a.m., when no signs of the hikers had surfaced, Hiramoto said.
Another search team started looking for the hikers at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, and the woman and daughter were found an hour later. No injuries were reported.
Staff writer Lester Chang contributed to this report.
