Kauai: The Kalalau Trail
In the spirit of adventure and accessing the bountiful land that Kauai’s rugged landscape provides, Jen and I woke up early, packed our bags with sundries and supplies and drove west and north to the end of the line.
Kauai can’t be circumnavigated by car. The imposing and gorgeous Nā Pali Coast is 17 miles of terrain that you’ve most likely seen in the Jurassic Park movies.
You can drive to Ke’e Beach where the mighty Kalalau Trail begins. There’s also nowhere else to go. By car at least. An 11-mile all-day hike awaits, of some of the muddiest, rockiest and sketchy trail you can barely even call suitable for foot. But adventure and massive pay-offs await for those who venture to go deep. The full 11-mile hike to the other side of the island requires a day pass and a camping permit. Jen and I opted for the 2 mile hike in to Hanakapai Beach and a further 2 miles inland to the falls of the same name (though we never got to the falls as we started the trail but found it to be extremely sketchy with the recent heavy rains).
It’s been raining in Kauai as it’s winter there and the trail was challenging. The many discarded hiking sticks, made of sacrificial branches from nature’s limbs gave us steadfast feet. We made it to the beach, after a knee-deep river crossing to find a sight that stunned us silent. Cairns everywhere. And cats.
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