Lost

Accessibility is something you would expect to be a prerequisite when it comes to selecting shooting locations, particularly for the tight production schedules of television shows like Lost.  But that couldn't be farther from the truth.  In fact, some of Lost's more memorable locations can be downright dangerous.  Consider the Lana'i Lookout, used in several episode and most commonly referred to as “the weird coastline where Desmond killed Kelvin.”  The patch of eroded coastline has claimed the lives of countless tourists, and is considered to be for ‘extreme divers' only.

In my visit to the location I was accompanied by one of the proprietors of LostVirtualTours.com, a website famed for amassing location data on Lost.  We were greeted by a sign that clearly laid out the dangers of the patch of coastline with a stern warning not to pass that point, which we promptly ignored.

 
The smooth surface of the plateaus are covered with fine volcanic sand, super slippery.  Imagine walking on millions of tiny marbles.  As we descend to the place where Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) struggled with Kelvin in “Live Together, Die Alone,” and where the Tailies treaded with an ailing Sawyer (Josh Holloway) in “Abandoned,” I try to imagine myself carrying an anvil case, or a steady cam rig.  It's hard enough to descend with a plus sized middle aged mid-riff.


Once we are at a reasonable level to take some pictures, I turn and look at the path I took down and shudder.  My mind returns to the idea of a film crew descending, stars and all.


From the base, everything is suddenly familiar.  The tailies trekking across in “The Other 48 Days,” Desmond spying the Elizabeth floating in a nearby cove, and Sawyer struggling with the rough terrain in “Abandoned” as infection ravages his body.


In a surreal moment, I turn my head, my mind firmly on “the island,” and spy the highway in the distance.  As alien as this landscape is both to a naïve mainlander like myself, and the millions of Lost fans around the world, I'm reminded that some pass this point everyday as part of their mundane commute, never giving a second thought to the iconic landscape's place in the history of Lost's “island.”