Hiking the Kalalau Trail

This morning was our big hiking adventure along the Kalalau Trail.  Originally built in the late 1800s, this popular hike is one of the only ways to access the Napali Coast via land.  The total trail stretches 11 miles along this rugged coastline, but we only hiked the first two miles to Hanakapi’ai Beach.

The trailhead is located in Hā’ena State Park and we had to catch an early morning shuttle to get there.  The state limits both the number of cars and the number of people into the park each day.  You have to purchase online, and they only release tickets 30 days in advance.  I didn't realize just how fast they get scooped up, so I was pleased there was still availability when I checked about three weeks before we left.

This was a gorgeous hike with great views of the turquoise-blue waters of this part of the Pacific Ocean.  We passed through lush tropical forest as well as exposed cliffsides, with a total elevation change of about 1,200 feet for the four-mile round trip.  We experienced several different rain showers which made the trail quite slick and muddy in places.  We got soaked and then the sun came out and we dried out.  We repeated this rain - drying process several times during the day.

Hanakapi’ai Beach wasn't very large. It was completely surrounded with sheer lava rock cliffs and a lush tropical valley that lead inland to a waterfall which was another two miles.  Our original plan was to hike all the way to the waterfall, but given the rain and slick conditions of the trail, we decided to return after our beach stop.  There were several sea caves in the rock face, one of which was large enough to go into and lose sight of the ocean.

Even with the rain showers, this was a wonderful hike and a great way to spend our morning.  Perhaps we can make it to the waterfall the next time we visit.

Feral Chickens

Feral cats are a term many of us are familiar with, but how about feral chickens?  Kauai is full of them.  You see (and hear!!) roosters all during the day as well as their hens. We've also seen complete family units with Mom, Dad, and several chicks in tow.  

Apparently, the population of these birds started exploding after Hurricanes Iwa in 1982 and Iniki in 1992 caused the release of thousands of domestic chickens into the wild.  These chickens then interbred with red junglefowl, which are predecessors to modern-day chickens and were introduced to the island by Polynesians many centuries ago.  The result are very colorful -- and vocal -- roosters. For better or worse, they've become a cultural symbol of Kauai and you see their likeness on all sorts of products being sold here.

So many Naked Boobies

We finished our Thursday by driving to the end of a local road with a great view of the Kilauea Lighthouse.  It was a spectacular scene.  What was totally unexpected was seeing so many naked boobies!  We were elevated above the beach below, but even from this vantage point, it was clear I was seeing more boobies in one place than I've ever seen before.  Mona didn't want to show her boobies, which is totally understandable since I'm not talking about female breasts.....I'm talking about the Red-Footed Booby which nests on the cliffs here.  Get your mind out of the gutter 😁.  In addition to its distinctive red feet, this Booby has a turquoise beak which also sets it apart.

Red-Footed Booby

Besides the great view of the lighthouse, what's actually at the end of this road is the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge.  This is also the northernmnost point of the Hawaiian islands.  This refuge protects the nesting areas of numerous sea birds that call this home.  In addition to the Booby, we also saw Red-Tailed Tropicbirds, Great Frigatebirds, and the endangered Hawaiian Goose which the locals call Nēnē. The Laysan Alabtross is another bird that lives here, and we saw a pair resting on the adjacent cliffside through a spotting scope set up by the staff.

The lighthouse isn't open for touring, but it still makes for a great photo.  It was built in 1913 and has guided mariners for over a century.  We were here for an hour at most as the public access portion of the refuge is fairly small.  It was mesmerizing watching all of the birds as they dove towards the water in search of their next meal.  I took way too many photos trying to capture the various birds in flight.  These are some of my best shots.

Red-tailed Tropicbird

Evidence that the Booby's feet are indeed red

Great Frigatebird, whose wingspan can reach seven feet

Swimming with Honu

One of the bucket list hopes of this trip is to snorkel with sea turtles.  The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle is called Honu in Hawaiian, and there are multiple places throughout the islands where they will come out of the water and rest on the beach in the evenings.  Poipu Beach is one of those spots and is only a 10-minute walk from our AirBnB.

We went both nights we stayed in Poipu and watched numerous honu slowly come up out the water and rest on the beach. There are a cadre of volunteers that come out every evening to watch over them as they rest on the beach, ensuring an adequate perimeter is maintained from the tourists who would likely try to pet them if they could. Mona learned from one of the volunteers that these turtles have an internal GPS and return to the exact same spot on the sand every time.  

The bucket list hope came true this morning!  We've moved from Poipu on the south shore to Princeville on the north shore where we will spend our remaining nights on Kauai.  We went to Anini Beach which has large tidal pools with small coral reefs in them, and the waves stay quite a bit away from the shore.  The lack of waves made snorkeling easier, but the shallow water depths sometimes made navigating the coral tricky since you aren't supposed to come in contact with it.

Mona and I ended up snorkeling in opposite directions, but both of us had great turtle encounters.  Mona saw two different honu, and I saw a total of four including three that were fairly close to one another.  They seem quite graceful underwater as they glide through using their front flippers to propel them.  They come to the surface to breathe and then dive back down as they continue their journey, pausing at coral areas to eat.

The honu continues to be sacred to many Hawaiian families today.  For some in Hawaii, honu are ‘aumākua, or spiritual guardians.  After watching them on both land and underwater, I understand why.

Cruising the Napali Coast

Kauai Coffee Plantation

After checking out of our AirBnB in Poipu, we headed west again towards Waimea.  We made a brief stop at the Kauai Coffee Plantation to get some drone footage of the neatly lined rows of coffee trees in its vast orchards.  At over 4,000 acres, this is the largest coffee farm in the United States.  For decades, this property was a sugarcane plantation before the first coffee trees were planted in the late 1980s.  We also made a brief stop in Hanapepe to see and walk across the swinging pedestrian bridge over the Hanapepe River.

Hanapepe Swinging Bridge

The big activity of the day was a four hour cruise along the Napali Coast.  The only way to see the Napali Coast is from the water.  Most of the Naopali Coast is inaccessible by vehicle -- only hiking -- and large sections of the coastline are cliffs hundreds of feet in height that drop straight down into the water.  Unlike yesterday when we went to Koke'e State Park but couldn't really see any of the coast because of the cloud cover, today's weather was gorgeous.  Lots of bright sun illuminating the coastline and no significant cloud cover to get in the way of the spectacular views.  We saw spinner dolphins, snorkled amongst a coral reef and colorful fish, ventured into a couple of sea caves, and soaked up the spectacular scenery.  This was a wonderful way to finish up our stay on the south shore.

Jagged spires along the Napali Coast

Afternoon light illuminating a small waterfall in one of the sea caves

Waimea Canyon and the Napali Coast

We're spending our first two nights on Kauai on the south shore in Koloa near Poipu Beach.  Kauai is the oldest of the major islands at some 5 million years old.  Often referred to as the Garden Island, it is the least developed and home to lots of lush mountains and forests.  Probably the most significant reason the island is less developed than others is because of Waimea Canyon -- the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.  The canyon is about 10 miles long and as much as 3,000 feet deep.  It was carved from both Waimea River erosion and the collapse of the ancient volcano that created Kauai.

Waimea Canyon

We drove an hour from our AirBnB to Kokeʻe State Park which took us past Waimea Canyon and is the furthest point we could drive with our car.  We stopped many times along the way to take in the views, so it was probably more like 90 minutes before we got there.  Because we haven't fully adjusted to Hawaiian time yet, we were up super early and out the door before 6:00am which meant we basically had the drive and overlooks to ourselves.

Kokeʻe State Park appears the be the furthest inland you can drive from the south shore. The entire western side of the island is mountainous, where the peaks quickly drop from 3,000 feet down to the ocean.  The only way to access a lot of this area is by hiking. The other option, which we are doing tomorrow, is to take a boat cruise along the western side of the island -- called the Napali Coast -- and access the beach.

Looking over a virtual wall of clouds instead of the Napali Coast

We drove to the end of the road in Kokeʻe State Park to access two lookouts over the Napali Coast.  We then hiked the Pehia Trail along the ridge which typically affords spectacular views.  Unfortunately for us, clouds obscured the entire coast and all we could see was a sea of white.  We did manage a couple of brief breaks in the clouds to get momentary glimpses of the georgous coastline we were missing.  

A brief break in the clouds

Even so, it was still great hiking, and we basically had the trail to ourselves.  We only encountered people on the hike back. Hopefully, we'll have clearer weather for the boat cruise tomorrow.

Aloha!

Aloha from the island of Kauai! This is our first time visiting Hawaii and we're excited that our plans include three of the major islands.  We'll be visiting the Big Island next (also called Hawaii) as well as Oahu, home to Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. This is an early anniversary trip to celebrate our 31st.  Our actual wedding anniversary is in August, but because we travel according to when school is out, this is the time we could make the trip work.  Mona will be back at work on our actual anniversary.

Hawaii is state 43 in our life quest to visit all 50 states.  For those of you keeping score at home, we still have Idaho, North and South Dakota, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Rhode Island.  I knew you'd ask.

We decided to break up the trip and flew to Phoenix and stayed overnight in an airport hotel.  Not sure if that will help with jet lag or not, but we can hope.  Looking forward to hiking, snorkeling, and enjoying a break from the daily grind.