Good News: This is the first day since we have been here that it hasn’t rained on us at one point during the day
Bad News: We were supposed to take a cruise to see the Napali Coast….they cancelled that due to 12’ waves and offered a trip to the southern part of Kauai instead. We just bailed on the idea altogether.
Which left us with a complete rethink of the day. After watching Michigan completely obliterate Florida for a half we agreed we would head north and try and do the hike that we were going to attempt yesterday. GPS says the starting point is 23 miles away. That’s as the crow flies; it took about 90 minutes to drive all the way around and down to Ke’e beach and the trailhead for the Kalalau Trail. We are only doing the first two miles to Hanakapi'ai Beach.
The boys, no matter how much they complain beforehand, always like a hike. Today’s complainer de jour was Matthew who said he wanted nothing to do with a hike and ended up having a blast…..
The first 1/2 mile was the ugliest, all uphill over rocks and mud…the next 1 1/2 miles was ok and mostly downhill….
as advertised, there were some pretty stunning views all the way around…
lots of stream crossings; the boys enjoyed these most of all….I think there must have been four or five small waterfalls….
This is probably the best, or easiest, part of the trail. Hard-packed dirt, not too muddy. But there were other parts that were muddy where our shoes would sink into the dirt, and rocky to the point that it was difficult up and down….
Kevin took most of these photos on his phone…I’ve grabbed them for this post.
The end of the trail is at the beach…you have to cross this river to get to the beach. The boys probably thought this was the best part of the trail; the water was up to our knees and pretty cold. I imagine after a rain storm this river looks a lot different…
We brought in some snacks so sat there, among the rocks, and ate. The surprise of the day was that there were three cats way out here looking for handouts….our lunch/snacks were not cat-friendly so they quickly left us and went to see what other hikers brought with them. If, *IF* we ever go back, we’ll know to bring in some cat food with us….
Twelve to Fifteen foot waves are pretty impressive; you could hear the echoes of them booming along the coast on the hike….
There’s a cave in that wall over there…I don’t think there is anyway you can reasonably get to it….because…
They make it pretty clear that if you’re stupid enough to go into the water here you could end up as a mark on this sign.
We made our way back….that 1 1/2 miles that was downhill on the way here was uphill on the way back and it was sunnier and hotter. We stopped at all of the waterfalls and the boys climbed upstream….really just for an excuse to get into the water more I think…
I think the boys would tell you that the river and the waterfalls were the best part of the trip….
That last 1/2 mile was all downhill, but, man, it was tough. All rocky, and after 3+ hours of walking, my legs were trembling with each step. But, we made it.
Met up with Mom and went down the road to the shaved ice / fruit stand. Ate about a metric ton of pineapple (the after snack for any good Hawaii hike). Headed back to the hotel, grilled up the steaks and enjoyed our usual Sunday night of Amazing Race and Walking Dead goodness…..
