KALALAU TRAIL, KAUAI, HAWAII
May 7, 2008
By Tim Briese
4 miles, 1200' elevation gain, 4:30 roundtrip time
The Kalalua Trail is said to be the most popular trail in all of Hawaii, and has been rated as one of the top ten trails in the world by Backpacker Magazine. Given these impressive credentials I knew we had to check it out on our visit to Kauai. The trail traverses eleven miles along the spectacular Na Pali coast on the north shore of the island. Only the first two miles are open to dayhikers with the rest of it reserved for backpackers who obtain permits. We hiked only those first two miles of the trail so this report is not a complete description of the entire route, but rather describes the magnificent grandeur that we saw on the first part of the trail and might whet the appetite of the reader for more.
My wife Teresa and I spent a week visiting beautiful Kauai with our friends Hal and Linda. We stayed on the north shore of the island for a few days at a condo in Princeville that was perched spectacularly on the sea cliffs above the ocean. On the day of the hike we left the condo and drove west on Road 560 through Hanalei and continued for eight winding and very scenic miles along the coast to the very end of the road, to Ha=ena State Park, where Ke=e Beach and the trailhead for the Kalalau Trail is located. This was obviously a very popular place, for the large parking lot was full and cars lined the road for quite some distance away. We managed to find a spot to park and strolled over to have a look at Ke=e Beach, where parts of numerous movies have been filmed, including the classic South Pacific. We immediately recognized from the movie the pointed summit of Bali Hai (Makana Peak) towering above to the south. The trailhead was located in the dense forest nearby about 50 yards south of the beach.
At around 10 a.m. we proceeded hiking up the trail, initially under a canopy of lush and dense vegetation. The trail climbed steadily upward through the trees above the coast. Footing was generally reasonable on the dirt trail, with occasional rocky areas and even a place or two where we had to carefully tread through a maze of tree roots. Fascinating vegetation appeared around every turn as the trail traversed in and out of side drainages and steadily climbed higher. There were numerous other hikers on the trail, most of them casual hikers like ourselves. At one place we rounded a windy point where it was necessary to hold onto our hats to keep them from blowing away. By this time we had climbed several hundred feet above the ocean and we were rewarded with beautiful vistas of the water far below. A brief rain shower passed over and a rainbow appeared over the ocean before the sun burst out of the clouds again. Here on the island=s north shore frequent rain supports a flowery, jungle-like vegetation cover and interesting forms of plant life. After a mile and a half or so we had climbed some 400 or 500 feet above the ocean and were treated to a spectacular vista of the Na Pali coast stretching away to the west. The trail leveled off for a bit before beginning a gradual descent into the Hanakapi=ai Valley and to Hanakapi=ai Beach. When we reached the floor of the valley we crossed a stream and followed it a hundred yards downstream to where it flows into the ocean at the beach. This beautiful beach was a popular place to visit with numerous hikers sitting about enjoying the raw and majestic beauty of this place. We found a nice spot to sit on some rocks near the mouth of the stream and enjoyed our lunch while gazing at the ocean surf rolling in against the shore. A sign warned about the danger of swimming at this beach so we contented ourselves with merely wading in the ocean=s waves.
This was as far as we could go on the Kalalau Trail without a backpacking permit. We could have taken a two mile side trail up the valley to Hanakapi=ai Falls, but with the low stream flow at this time of year we decided the falls might not be impressive enough to warrant the hike. After a last look at this incredible meeting of ocean and land we began retracing our steps back up the trail the way we had come. We continued to meet numerous hikers coming and going on the trail. We met and spoke briefly with a handful of youthful backpackers who had gone the distance on the Kalalau Trail. They exuded an impressive mystique honed by fabulous adventure. We continued back on the trail and arrived at the trailhead about 2:30 in the afternoon. After lounging around on Ke=e Beach for a while we headed back down the road and stopped at a farmer=s market along the way to pick up some native produce to enjoy with dinner that night.
