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.