MOLOKAI — I close my eyes, allowing myself to feel the quiet. It’s a different quiet here amid the warm breezes of the most remote and purest of Hawaiian native forests. This is wao akua, “realm of the gods.”

To get here we have taken an hourlong drive along a rugged dirt road with 2-foot-deep ruts that could easily overturn most vehicles. The ride was one of endurance: hard and bumpy, bouncing me off my seat and occasionally hard against the door, even with my seatbelt on. Thankfully, we had a skilled local driver, Russell Kallstrom, who maneuvered the gray 2001 Chevy Tahoe across these roughest of off-roads.