Kalalau Trail

The Kalalau Trail is an 11 mile trek along the Napali Coast of Kauai, and is widely considered one of the most beautiful and most difficult hikes in the world.  The trail is full of extreme elevation changes, rocky terrain, countless stream crossings, and beautiful views, ending at a secluded beach / campsite.  It is an adventure that has been on my “Hawaii Bucket List” since I arrived last fall, and this past weekend I finally checked it off.  Our team of three consisted of me, Zack, and Michelle - two friends from the Navy who are stationed on base.  We rented most of our camping gear from the “Adventure” building on base, bought some from Walmart, and borrowed the rest from friends at work (most important item = water purifier).  I’ve never really done a long hike / camping trip with a big pack, so I wasn’t quite prepared for the weight.

Knowing it would be a long day, we hit the trailhead early, around 6:30am.  The trail starts on the north shore of the island, where the road ends at Keʻe Beach. The first 2 miles of the trail were moderately strenuous - 1 mile uphill and 1 mile downhill.  It is a stretch that I have hiked four times before on previous trips to Hanakapia Falls with friends and family.  From Hanakapia Beach, access is controlled by permits, which are sold on a limited basis and often sell out. We had secured ours a few weeks prior, avoiding the possibility of a citation that requires a court appearance and a fine of up to $500… The trail continued from Hanakapia Beach for approximately 4 miles to Hanakoa Valley.  During a 1 ¼ mile stretch, the trail quickly climbed to 800 ft above sea level.  Approaching every corner I kept telling myself “This has to be the top…”

After 6 miles and roughly 4 hours, we reached Hanakoa Valley, a perfect stopping point for lunch.  This is where we started to see our first glimpse of the infamous “Kalalau squatters” – people that live off grid for weeks, months, and even years… Coming out of the Hanakoa Valley, the trail turned more toward the dry side of the island.  We started to see more wildlife, including mountain goats fearlessly scaling the cliffs, and beautiful female pheasants which Zack recognized well from his hunting trips.  There are 5 goats in this picture, see if you can spot them all!

At mile marker 7, we finally reached the infamous “crawler’s ledge,” the most narrow stretch of the hike.  The trail tapered down to a few inches wide, with a vertical wall going up on one side, and a straight drop down to the rocks and ocean below on the other.  We swallowed our fears, and made it passed.

Although I was feeling confident about making it through the steepest elevations changes, the infamous ledge, and well over half of the hike, my body quickly started to feel the effects of the difficult terrain.  The last 3 miles felt like 30.  But we pushed on, motivated by the breath taking views around every corner, and the thought of the beach at the end of trail.  We finally reached Kalalau Valley, a large, flat-bottomed valley almost a mile across. After hiking ½ mile down “Red Hill” and crossing Kalalau Stream, we found ourselves in a field of colorful flowers, leading us straight to the Kalalau Beach.  We made the 11 mile hike in about 8 hours.

The beach was amazing, with large cliffs offering a beautiful backdrop, a field of flowers on one side, sea caves on the other, and a small waterfall for showering, drinking, etc.  There were about 20 people at Kalalau, all extremely friendly.  Many had been there for days or weeks, seemingly embracing the off grid and somewhat hippie lifestyle. We explored the caves, chilled on the beach, met some new friends, cooked dinner, and enjoyed the sunset – an awesome cap to an awesome day.

The hike back was very difficult, as our bodies were sore, and our packs seemed to somehow be heavier. But as we reached the trailhead to complete the 22 mile trek, we felt an overwhelming amount of joy and accomplishment.

Fishing, Fishing, and a really good hot dog

Aloha and Happy Easter from Kauai! Since last post, I had the opportunity to go on a few fishing trips with some friends from work.

The first outing was a Bass Fishing trip on a large reservoir/lake, which was formerly used for the once booming sugar industry on the island, and now exists as the largest body of fresh water in all of Hawaii and a great spot for Bass Fishing.  I went out with my co-worker and friend Charlie, who owns his own boat at his home in Maine and is an avid bass fisherman.  I myself have never really been bass fishing, and I didn’t really realize how different it was from the salt water fishing I’m used to.  I must have casted a couple hundred times, learning a few different techniques with a couple different kinds of lures.  It was a gorgeous and sunny day on the lake, and very tranquil, probably because we were the only boat on the lake.  This is because the reservoir is privately owned, and only one company has the license to fish it.  One of the major attractions to fishing on this reservoir is the chance to catch peacock bass, which are beautiful fish that actuallyhave a spot on their tail fin that resembles the eyes on a peacock's tail feathers.  Needless to say, Charlie was quite excited when he hauled on in, giving it a nice juicy kiss on the lips.

The second outing was a Deep Sea Fishing trip with three other coworkers – Ed, Don, and John.  We went out with Captain Andy and First Mate Jeff, on a small outrigger that allowed us to troll with seven lines at once.  Deep Sea Fishing in Hawaii offers the opportunity to catch all sorts of fish, including Mahi Mahi, Ahi Tuna, and Marlin to name a few.   We happened to be getting lucky with the Mahi Mahi, and were able to haul in three, with a fourth jumping off the hook at the last possible moment.  These fish definitely required a lot more work to reel in than the flounder and sea bass that I’m used to.  After taking a few pictures back at the dock, the Captain filleted one whole Mahi Mahi for us, which we enjoyed the next day for a nice Easter supper.  Ed’s wife, Ling, cooked the fish just right.  Eating at Ed and Ling’s reminded me of eating at my Grandma’s, in the sense that even though fish was the main dish, there were or eight or so other dishes to go with it…

Besides the fresh Mahi Mahi, I had a few other memorable meals over the past few weeks.  The first was at a Tapas bar called Josselin’s, where our Program Manager Rich took the whole team to celebrate the “end” of our Test Program a few weeks ago.  From spinach raviolis, to lamb meatballs, to pork belly, every dish throughout the family style dinner was delicious, and well complimented by their sangria.  But the meal of the week is going to the hotdog from a little food cart called Porky’s: 100% beef hotdog, served up on a toasted French roll, topped with diced onions, sweet pineapple relish, KALUA PORK, and famous Porky’s spicy sauce.

Only a few weeks left in Hawaii, as I’ll be back in NJ on May 15.  But I have a few more exciting adventures planned over the next few weekends, so stay tuned! And as always, Mahalo for reading!