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Published: April 17th 2008
After I graduated college, my close friend moved to the island of Kauai in Hawaii and asked me to move with him. I ended up doing one last interview, landed the job, and ended up working in the cold midwestern state of Wisconsin, my birthplace, for two and half more years. However, working for a company with customers across the nation has its perks, and I was able to visit him for free twice in the first year and a half. On my first trip there, he took me to several great hikes, one of which was the Kalalau Trail. We only did the first two miles, but I was amazed by its beauty and vowed to make it back there shortly to do the full twelve-mile stretch. Well, a year after my second trip, I took two weeks off and, with my friend, Ben, from Washington D.C. meeting me, flew out to Kauai with all the camping gear I needed to hike the Kalalau Trail.
The island of Kauai is a sparsely populated island with a very dry, red dirt filled southern side, and a very wet and lush north shore. It has large ridges from the volcanic activity
and is known for the Waimeia Valley, also known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Tell people from Honolulu that you are going to Kauai and they will give you a strange look, as it is known as a backwoods small town place. It is true, everyone drives a pick up truck and there is virtually no night scene. However, each morning brings amazing opportunities for beaches and some of the best hiking in the U.S. There is one main road the covers the island in a crescent. The part of the island that can’t be covered by road, due to the ridges dropping too steeply into the ocean, is where the Kalalau Trail takes over. Beginning on the northwest side of the island, it stretches south for twelve miles jutting in and out of several valleys. You hike along the ridgeline, with the mountains stretching a thousand feet above you, and the ocean only a few feet away, but a thousand feet below. It is precarious at points, but stunning the entire way.
My friend Ben and I were driven the forty-five minutes from Kilauea to the trailhead to start our hike at about seven in the
Open beach, blue sky
Same view as the sunset pick, but not a bad looking place to spend the day anyway.morning. The first few miles have a steep incline, and then immediately a steep decline to the first beach, Hanakapiai. Here you can march another few miles inland to a beautiful waterfall, but we didn’t feel like adding six miles roundtrip onto our twelve-mile hike, and kept moving onward.
The in and out nature of the coastal ridges in Hawaii provides amazing vistas down the coastline and some fantastic photo opportunities. However, it also means that you constantly gain and loose altitude as you hike, as the trail is determined by the easiest point to get around the next ridge without falling off into the ocean. Also, while it can be absolutely beautiful sun in one valley, when you come around the next ridge, you might walk into a misty clouded valley the next. However, as you move down towards the south, you change climates from the rainy north, to the dry south; by the time you make it to Kalalau, you rarely see a cloud in the sky.
We hiked the first nine miles on the first day, and reached a nice stopping point about midday. We set up camp near a river where most hikers stop
for their first day (I forget the name of the valley) and relaxed for the remainder of the day. We met a great couple from Maui on their honeymoon, and decided to split our goods and make dinner with them for the next few nights. Fortunately for us, they were better at packing their bags and had some fantastic fruits and veggies, which were warmly welcomed. Also, living in Hawaii, they were very knowledgeable about the local fruits and taught us the ones to eat, and the ones to avoid. This proved to be one of my favorite parts of the hike. We were able to grab avocados, guava, passion fruit, etc. off the trees and eat them along the way. Hawaii’s lush climate is fantastic like that, much better than the frozen Midwestern U.S. where I come from.
We got up early the next day, to tackle what is claimed to be the toughest part of the trail before the sun got too high overhead and began scorching us. I had heard from several people that there had been some mudslides and the path was nearly impassible; the heights were supposed to be vertigo inspiring; several people had
View along the hike
That is my friend Ben in the photo gotten to points and just turned around refusing to risk injury. Basically I was expecting the worst. However, before I knew it, we were looking at Kalalau. There were a few points where dirt slides were prevalent, and at one point I had to basically hug the loose soil as I shuffled past it, but all in all it wasn’t horrible. The most dizzying heights, where you are literally standing on a two foot wide area and several hundred feet below the sea meets the cliff, come on a very solid rock footing, and I didn’t even notice the heights until we were well past them looking back.
Walking in to Kalalau beach you have an amazing view and can see the beach while you are still a mile away. Even though the last mile is difficult, the reward is within sight and it is a great feeling. We had made good time that second day, and were able to set camp in Kalalau well before noon. We took some time getting a good look at the beach, taking off our shoes and relaxing, filling up our water bottles at the waterfall on the far end of the beach,
Rainbows
It is the rainbow state, after all, so you see plenty of these. I actually stopped taking photos of them all. and just appreciating the beauty of the place. We set up camp in the nicely shaded wooded area a little ways from the beach. In order to distance ourselves from our neighbors, we had to go a bit further from the water source than we liked, but we had a nice plot of land to stretch out our hammock and tent. The tide is extremely strong, and it is ill advised to go swimming due to the strong undertow; and as we didn’t feel like walking anywhere, we kicked back and had an amazing siesta in the middle of the day.
The real beauty of Kalalau comes out at sunset. The beach runs perfectly north to south, so the view westward is completely unobstructed; there isn’t an island in sight and no smog clouding the horizon. The sun sets with the most amazing colors into the ocean; its’ light brilliantly illuminating the several thousand foot valley walls behind you. As the sun goes down you don’t know if you should watch it set over the sea, or its affect on the walls behind you. Luckily we had a few nights of this so we didn’t worry about it too
Warning
Yes, the tide is actually that strong. much.
We spend the next days lounging around, enjoying the absolutely enormous beach, hundreds of yards long, with normally only two or so groups on the beach at a time. As I mentioned, the tide is extremely strong, so we went back up the trail half a mile to enjoy the river coming out of the Kalalau Valley. Hiking up into the valley brings you into a different world. The valley used to be inhabited by hundreds of people before the island began to “westernize”. You can still see the little plots of land flattened into terraces by the locals and the villages it formed. And, now, the valley is still populated, but not by local Hawaiians, but by a hippy community; and these aren’t the suburban, SUV driving, buying-pot-with-mom-and-dad’s-money, trust-afarian pseudo-hippies you typically meet around college campuses in the states. These are some legit individuals living outside of society, existing off the land and not giving a damn what happens in the outside world. It is an interesting group of individuals to meet. They have built quite a few large camps up in the valley (one with huge couches made of bamboo, appropriately called Couch Camp) and one
Misty Valley
We turned the corner from a beautiful sunny valley into this misty valley. The weather changes with each turn. really impressive one along the beach (complete with stone protective walls, a stone made grill, and a stone house) and have irrigated gardens higher up in the valley for food. We chatted with the locals enjoyed their company, and had a great time just wasting the days away in the amazing scenery of Kalalau Valley.
After a few fantastic days, we had to hike out; we could only pack in so much food. We decided to do the full twelve miles in one solid push out. It was exhausting, but we did it without problem. We got to the trailhead, stuck out our thumb, and after a little while we caught a ride with a couple on their honeymoon. They took us to Hanalei Bay, an amazing little town, the hub of Kauai’s north coast if you will, which has the nicest beach I have ever seen (including the beaches of southern Thailand). We laid out here, on the lawn in the middle of town, waiting for our friend to come and pick us up after he got off work. All in all, I will say that it was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done.
Almost there
Ben and I as we approach Kalalau Beach on the second day The views are spectacular, the natural flora is one of a kind, and the reward at the end is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
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