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Kauai on horseback

"When we first rode in this area, we were in awe. It was a gorgeous day; the colors of the ocean, the sky, the flowers, the mountains, the sand dunes, even the soil -- that deep rust red Kauai is known for -- were so vivid! You've heard the phrase 'God's country.' That's exactly where we thought we were."

THOSE were Joyce Miranda's thoughts as she recalled the first time -- New Year's Day 1984 -- she and her husband, Jim, explored Poipu on horseback.

If you go ... What: Hidden Beach Ride Meet at: CJM Country Stables, 1.5 miles past the Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa in Poipu Time: 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily except Sunday. Check in 30 minutes before your scheduled ride. Cost: $90 per person, including refreshments Call: 808-742-6096 E-mail: cjm@aloha.net Web site: www.cjmstables.com Notes: Riders must be at least 8 years old and weigh no more than 240 pounds. Wear long pants and closed-toe shoes. Call for details about CJM's Secret Beach Breakfast Ride, Beach Swim Picnic Ride, private group rides, Western theme parties, and cookouts featuring a mini-rodeo and cattle drive.

As he admired the view, Jim was struck by the idea that they could start a trail ride operation that would show this pristine sector of southern Kauai to visitors. It would be an ideal venture because both of them "have horses in our blood," Miranda said. She was brought up on ranches in Wyoming and Colorado. Jim was raised on the Big Island in a longtime paniolo family. They met as students at Colorado State University, married and moved to Hawaii.

"My mother and father never could understand why I couldn't find a cowboy closer to home," Miranda says with a chuckle.

In 1982, after living 10 years on the Big Island, the Mirandas moved to Kauai, where Jim had accepted a position as a herdsman with Meadow Gold Dairy. Although he wanted to open a stable, Miranda says it didn't take long to convince her to do it.

"We knew a little bit about horses, and we like being around people," she says. "We figured it would require a lot of time, dedication and hard work, but we would be working for ourselves."

It took about a year and a half for them to construct buildings, hire staff, launch publicity efforts and obtain the necessary leases, permits and agreements from the state, County of Kauai and Grove Farm, the landowner. CJM Country Stables took out its first horseback tour in spring 1986.

Miranda says, "CJM stands for Clifton James Miranda -- my husband's full name -- but we like to think it means Come Join Me."

And visitors have! In the past 20 years, the Mirandas and their genial wranglers have introduced thousands of greenhorns to the joys of horseback riding and magnificent Poipu.

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COURTESY DOUGLAS HEWITT In 20 years, CJM Country Stables has taken thousands of riders exploring on Kauai.

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The popular two-hour Hidden Beach Ride goes six miles past wide carpets of naupaka kahakai with their dainty white flowers and berries and stands of ironwoods and haole koa so thick you'll have to duck in spots. Clouds and rainbows dance atop majestic mountains, birds chirp happily from hidden perches in dense canopies of trees and for most of the ride you don't see any signs of development -- no houses, no roads, no cars. It's just you, your horse and glorious wilderness.

The ride is conducted at a walking pace, making it easy to snap photos from the saddle. One of the scenic highlights, pretty Mahaulepu Beach, appears within the first 15 minutes of the ride. You'll wander onto the sand and into the water for a short distance, all the while admiring sailboats gliding gracefully offshore.

Heading uphill through brush and forest, you'll emerge before a spectacular panorama of deep green pastures ringed by the Haupu (Hoary Head) mountains; fields of taro, rice and corn; the old Koloa Sugar Mill; and the clear blue Pacific. Cattle lounge, half asleep, right beside the trail.

Stable hosts rodeos on Garden Island When the cowpokes at CJM Country Stables aren't taking out trail rides, they're hosting free rodeos. The following is the 2005 schedule (dates and times subject to change): Next Sunday: Kauai Keiki (KK) and High School Rodeo Association (HSRA), 9 a.m. March 13: American Cowboys Team Roping Association (ACTRA), 9 a.m. March 20: Kauai All Girls Rodeo Association (KAGRA), 10 a.m. April 3: KK and HSRA, 9 a.m. April 10: ACTRA, 9 a.m. April 17: KK and HSRA, 9 a.m. April 29: United States Team Roping Association, 1 p.m. April 30: U.S. Team Roping Championship, 9 a.m. May 1: USTRC, 9 a.m. May 15: KAGRA, 10 a.m. May 22: ACTRA, 9 a.m. June 5: ACTRA, 9 a.m. July 29: ACTRA, 1 p.m. July 31: Koloa Plantation Days Rodeo, 10 a.m. Aug. 14: ACTRA, 9 a.m. Aug. 21: KAGRA, 10 a.m. Sept. 18: KAGRA, 10 a.m. Oct. 9: KAGRA, 10 a.m. Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi

IT'S DIFFICULT to believe that centuries ago, many bloody battles were waged in this pastoral locale. Miranda once discovered an ancient adz when she was leading a tour.

"Something told me to look down, and there it was," she recalls. "It was as though it was saying, 'Stop, look at me. Do you know what I am?' It must date back hundreds of years.

"I dismounted, picked it up, and it's now part of my collection of special memorabilia."

The area also harbors a limestone sinkhole (Hawaii's largest) where scientists from the Smithsonian Institution have chronicled 9,000 years of paleo-ecologic history, including the bones of a rare flightless bird. Kauai's largest concentration of petroglyphs lies along the Mahaulepu shoreline, albeit on rock slabs that are buried beneath several feet of sand most of the time.

Although you won't be able to see these historical treasures on the Hidden Beach Ride, Miranda promises you'll have a memorable time.

"Our guides and horses get fan mail," she says. "Children will send drawings they've made of the horses they rode, and people who own their own horses will send us pictures of them when they return home. Our guides have forged wonderful friendships with many of our guests."

She recalls parents who brought their 18-year-old daughter to Hawaii as a graduation gift.

"They rode with us and had a really great time. Several years later the girl came back to Kauai on her honeymoon and brought her husband on a ride. They had a son and came back a third time, but the boy was too young to ride. They said, 'We'll be back when he's old enough,' and sure enough, they came back and the three of them enjoyed a ride together."

Miranda has been riding for more than 50 years and never tires of it.

"When I'm on a horse, the world slows down," she says. "I take the time to look at the flowers and the blueness of the sky and sea. For me it's a great time to meditate."

Poipu is her favorite riding spot on Kauai.

"The land and sea never look the same because the sun always hits them differently," she says. "You can ride in the morning and the mountains will be bright green, and go back in the late afternoon and they'll be tinged with a soft yellow glow. The ocean changes color, from blue to turquoise to green. I've been riding here for 20 years, and the scenery still takes my breath away."

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COURTESY DOUGLAS HEWITT The popular two-hour Hidden Beach Ride takes riders along a beach and through brush and forest to a spectacular spot that offers sweeping mountain and ocean views.

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