Paradise offers some seriously breathtaking views - views most people will never have the chance to lay their eyes on, except for in pictures. But sometimes you gotta put yourself in harm's way to get the privilege of peepin' those vistas. And that's definitely the case with Oahu, Hawaii's Haiku Stairs, also known as the "Stairway to Heaven."



This is almost 4000 steps of vertical climb that leads 2000 feet above sea level into the clouds where most people wouldn't dare go.

What started out as a WW2 mission to get an antennae atop the mountains, soon turned into a way for the public to get these rare views.

And there are plenty of rumors swirling that all kinds of people have died climbing the Haiku Stairs, but so far a thorough internet search has turned up one missing teen, Daylenn Moke Pua - who disappeared in mid February, 2015, and Fritz Hasenpusch, a comedian who had a heart attack climbing the stairs.
People have died and disappeared climbing these stairs, but the stunning views still tempt people to break the law and make the steep, narrow ascent.

The stairs are technically illegal to climb, but thrill seekers ignore the law, the guard who's usually monitoring the area and the fact that there's a near vertical ascent at the beginning. That's probably why they're called THRILL seekers and not Average Experience Seekers.