We packed up and walked out of Ani’ni Beach Park on Tuesday morning saying good-bye to Kaala and her family and making plans to camp with them at Lydgate Ste park on Saturday. Across the beach and up the slippery trail and through the resort to the library where we donated our finished books and Ambiana picked up her 6th book of the trip. We also checked the trail satus and were relieved to see that it was open though the forecast was not good; rain and more rain especially on Thursday. We then spent $175 at the Foodland in Princeville. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I hate the resort culture and all the entitled haoles who live and vacation here grimly aware that I am part of that also.
We took the bus to the last stop in Hanalei outside the community center where we were going to hitchike to the trail head. We split into two groups with Colleen and Ambiana hitching first and they caught a ride in a pick up truck with room for all of us and Jakobi and I rode in the back as we took the twisty coast road to Na Pali State Park.
It has changed so much in the 20 years since I have been here last. There is a large parking lot at the trail head with a gate and attendants you have to get past with the proper permits. We thanked our ride then headed out along a boardwalk which took us to the trail head where there were restrooms, outdoor showers and interpretive signs.
Looking at the maps we realized we would have to hike 6 miles to Hanakoa Valley to camp as camping is no longer allowed at the beach 2 miles in. In fact the the 2 mile mark is a popular day hike destination and we must have passed 1000 people coming and going.
The trail was wet and slippy, crowded but with beautiful views of the coast ahead and we were in luck because the rain had passed us by and it was blue sky and sun above.
The descent at the 2 mile mark was particularly difficult and Colleen was struggling. We took a break once we crossed the stream and I took on some stuff from Colleen’s pack to lighten her load.
We had a quick lunch and watched the people on the beach but had to move on to make our destination by dark. The trail quickly deteriorated as we headed up the pali, narrower then the 1st two miles, overgrown and thick with mud and my shoes, held together by dental floss stuck in the sucking quagmire and made my footing perilous. The trail climbed and climbed and then traversed below the cliff top for a mile before rounding a headland into a beautiful valley of high spires, cliffs and waterfalls and there were beautiful views of the coast.
It was like this for the next 3 miles, traversing narrow slippy trails that drop off steeply to the sea. Descending into valleys and ascending out of them to traverse more cliff. The trail was so slippery and my shoes so unstable that I was really scared at times. The girls had no problems. We passed several groups hiking out and they assured us the trail only got worse.
At the 4 mile mark we passed a couple climbing up to the trail out of a steep ravine. The man had slipped and slid 50 feet down to the creek bed while negotiating a narrow part of the trail. I began to have doubts about our safety. We climbed over a metal gate into a protected area and when we came out of it we were above the Hanakoa Valley.
It was an hour before dark as we descended into the valley and the first shelter we came to was full of people hiking out. We crossed the stream to the second shelter which was also full with a party of 5 from Arizona. We squeezed our tent between theirs and set up in a mud puddle. Colleen cooked us tuna noodle in the dark as I washed all the mud from my shoes and re-stitched them with floss. The girls were super hikers all along the steep muddy trail. I made a mistake in keeping these shoes, i feel really unsafe wearing them.
The Arizona folk told us that the trail gets worse especially at the 8 mile mark where there was a big landslide a few years ago. We lay in the wet tent and slept in a puddle as the moon cast shadows of the swaying foilage on our tent walls. My head was full of doubts about our safety and the trail ahead and the worsening weather forecast. The Arizonians are hiking out a day early because the weather Thursday is supposed to be the worst. What if one of us, probably me, slips and goes over the cliff? What if we get stuck in here as the creeks flood and the trail is closed. and we do something stupid trying to get out?
Is it worth it to push ahead just to spend a windy rainy day in the Kalalau Valley in our tent. You can’t swim, the currents are too strong, someone drowned off the beach on Christmas Eve the Arizonians told us. I woke early as usual and sat with the Arizonians and they showed me a video of them traversing the trail at the 8 mile mark. They were slipping and sliding and out of control down a 50 ft section of the trail with a huge drop to the sea and I really do not want to go on.
We had a family meeting once the girls were up and no one else is scared of the tril but the girls don’t care one way or another/. Colleen would like to go on but I don’t. It’s 4 treacherous miles compared to 14 if the weather gets worse and we get stuck and miss our flight and for what to sit in our tent in a monsoon on Thursday just to say we did it? As we talked it began to rain and that made the decision to hike out seem like the right one. The Arizonians were gone a first light so we made breakfast in the shelter and packed up in there and then headed back the way we had come.
It rained on us and the trail was worse than yesterday but the views were beautiful and we paused as we rounded each headland to take them in. We passed the man who fell yesterday going back in as well as a few day hikers but most people were headed out. Before we knew it we were back at the 2 mile beach which was crowded with day hikers and then it was a quick two miles and we were out.
The Arizonians had said they were going to camp at a beach at the trail head and I went on an exploratory along the beach but there were no tents or campers. We cleaned up at the showers and had a snack and talked with the lifeguard about camping options and he told us that Ani’ni Beach Park was the closest campground. We hoisted our packs and began walking down the road and thank goodness after only a mile came to Haena Beach where there was a shelter to cook under, bathrooms and the Arizonians camped on the lawn.
We settled in and cooked dinner and explored the large lava tube across the road which I thought was the blue hole but the blue hole is back by the parking lot to the trail head the coconut lady told me and is no more destroyed in the floods last year and the last person to swim in it got sucked down and out to the sea and drowned.
We set up our tent on the lawn at dark and lashed it firmly with several guy lines as the winds were howling and the rain downpouring. I was feeling better about our decision to bail on the trail. The wind whipped all night and I was up at sunrise to re-guy the tent and set the fly. One of the Arizonians was up early and we cooked breakfast together in the shelter as the day dawned.
The girls were soon up and everyone was under the shelter and we packed up and got ready to hit the road. We caught a ride with a man who showed up at the shelter as we were about to shove off. He’d come off the trail at 10pm last night, the last 4 miles in the dark as he did not want to get trapped. He hikes the trail every year at New Years and said this was the worst he had ever seen the trail in 15 years. We rode with him as he drove back up to the trail head to tell the gate people and the lifeguard how dangerous the trail is and watched as they listened to him with condescending looks.
He drove us to the community center where we could catch the bus and in the 45 minutes before it came Colleen researched and found us a room at the Kauai Beach Resort because after all TODAY IS AMBIANA’S 14TH BIRTHDAY
The Kalalau Trail
We packed up and walked out of Ani’ni Beach Park on Tuesday morning saying good-bye to Kaala and her family and making plans to camp with them at Lydgate Ste park on Saturday. Across the beach and up the slippery trail and through the resort to the library where we donated our finished books and Ambiana picked up her 6th book of the trip. We also checked the trail satus and were relieved to see that it was open though the forecast was not good; rain and more rain especially on Thursday. We then spent $175 at the Foodland in Princeville. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I hate the resort culture and all the entitled haoles who live and vacation here grimly aware that I am part of that also.
We took the bus to the last stop in Hanalei outside the community center where we were going to hitchike to the trail head. We split into two groups with Colleen and Ambiana hitching first and they caught a ride in a pick up truck with room for all of us and Jakobi and I rode in the back as we took the twisty coast road to Na Pali State Park.
It has changed so much in the 20 years since I have been here last. There is a large parking lot at the trail head with a gate and attendants you have to get past with the proper permits. We thanked our ride then headed out along a boardwalk which took us to the trail head where there were restrooms, outdoor showers and interpretive signs.
Looking at the maps we realized we would have to hike 6 miles to Hanakoa Valley to camp as camping is no longer allowed at the beach 2 miles in. In fact the the 2 mile mark is a popular day hike destination and we must have passed 1000 people coming and going.
The trail was wet and slippy, crowded but with beautiful views of the coast ahead and we were in luck because the rain had passed us by and it was blue sky and sun above.
The descent at the 2 mile mark was particularly difficult and Colleen was struggling. We took a break once we crossed the stream and I took on some stuff from Colleen’s pack to lighten her load.
We had a quick lunch and watched the people on the beach but had to move on to make our destination by dark. The trail quickly deteriorated as we headed up the pali, narrower then the 1st two miles, overgrown and thick with mud and my shoes, held together by dental floss stuck in the sucking quagmire and made my footing perilous. The trail climbed and climbed and then traversed below the cliff top for a mile before rounding a headland into a beautiful valley of high spires, cliffs and waterfalls and there were beautiful views of the coast.
It was like this for the next 3 miles, traversing narrow slippy trails that drop off steeply to the sea. Descending into valleys and ascending out of them to traverse more cliff. The trail was so slippery and my shoes so unstable that I was really scared at times. The girls had no problems. We passed several groups hiking out and they assured us the trail only got worse.
At the 4 mile mark we passed a couple climbing up to the trail out of a steep ravine. The man had slipped and slid 50 feet down to the creek bed while negotiating a narrow part of the trail. I began to have doubts about our safety. We climbed over a metal gate into a protected area and when we came out of it we were above the Hanakoa Valley.
It was an hour before dark as we descended into the valley and the first shelter we came to was full of people hiking out. We crossed the stream to the second shelter which was also full with a party of 5 from Arizona. We squeezed our tent between theirs and set up in a mud puddle. Colleen cooked us tuna noodle in the dark as I washed all the mud from my shoes and re-stitched them with floss. The girls were super hikers all along the steep muddy trail. I made a mistake in keeping these shoes, i feel really unsafe wearing them.
The Arizona folk told us that the trail gets worse especially at the 8 mile mark where there was a big landslide a few years ago. We lay in the wet tent and slept in a puddle as the moon cast shadows of the swaying foilage on our tent walls. My head was full of doubts about our safety and the trail ahead and the worsening weather forecast. The Arizonians are hiking out a day early because the weather Thursday is supposed to be the worst. What if one of us, probably me, slips and goes over the cliff? What if we get stuck in here as the creeks flood and the trail is closed. and we do something stupid trying to get out?
Is it worth it to push ahead just to spend a windy rainy day in the Kalalau Valley in our tent. You can’t swim, the currents are too strong, someone drowned off the beach on Christmas Eve the Arizonians told us. I woke early as usual and sat with the Arizonians and they showed me a video of them traversing the trail at the 8 mile mark. They were slipping and sliding and out of control down a 50 ft section of the trail with a huge drop to the sea and I really do not want to go on.
We had a family meeting once the girls were up and no one else is scared of the tril but the girls don’t care one way or another/. Colleen would like to go on but I don’t. It’s 4 treacherous miles compared to 14 if the weather gets worse and we get stuck and miss our flight and for what to sit in our tent in a monsoon on Thursday just to say we did it? As we talked it began to rain and that made the decision to hike out seem like the right one. The Arizonians were gone a first light so we made breakfast in the shelter and packed up in there and then headed back the way we had come.
It rained on us and the trail was worse than yesterday but the views were beautiful and we paused as we rounded each headland to take them in. We passed the man who fell yesterday going back in as well as a few day hikers but most people were headed out. Before we knew it we were back at the 2 mile beach which was crowded with day hikers and then it was a quick two miles and we were out.
The Arizonians had said they were going to camp at a beach at the trail head and I went on an exploratory along the beach but there were no tents or campers. We cleaned up at the showers and had a snack and talked with the lifeguard about camping options and he told us that Ani’ni Beach Park was the closest campground. We hoisted our packs and began walking down the road and thank goodness after only a mile came to Haena Beach where there was a shelter to cook under, bathrooms and the Arizonians camped on the lawn.
We settled in and cooked dinner and explored the large lava tube across the road which I thought was the blue hole but the blue hole is back by the parking lot to the trail head the coconut lady told me and is no more destroyed in the floods last year and the last person to swim in it got sucked down and out to the sea and drowned.
We set up our tent on the lawn at dark and lashed it firmly with several guy lines as the winds were howling and the rain downpouring. I was feeling better about our decision to bail on the trail. The wind whipped all night and I was up at sunrise to re-guy the tent and set the fly. One of the Arizonians was up early and we cooked breakfast together in the shelter as the day dawned.
The girls were soon up and everyone was under the shelter and we packed up and got ready to hit the road. We caught a ride with a man who showed up at the shelter as we were about to shove off. He’d come off the trail at 10pm last night, the last 4 miles in the dark as he did not want to get trapped. He hikes the trail every year at New Years and said this was the worst he had ever seen the trail in 15 years. We rode with him as he drove back up to the trail head to tell the gate people and the lifeguard how dangerous the trail is and watched as they listened to him with condescending looks.
He drove us to the community center where we could catch the bus and in the 45 minutes before it came Colleen researched and found us a room at the Kauai Beach Resort because after all TODAY IS AMBIANA’S 14TH BIRTHDAY