Hiking the Kalalau Trail solo
If you’ve ever done any serious hiking, or visited the beautiful island of Kawai, you’ve no doubt heard of the famed Kalalau Trail along the Na Pali coast. It’s not for the faint of heart or casual hiker, but those who take the long walk will never regret it or forget it. I’ll spare you the usual details on the Kalalau trail (click here for more info), and instead give you one middle-aged guy’s experiences with it. Note that I intended my hike to be a one-day trip in and out, since I didn’t have the time to stay overnight
Thursday, Nov. 20, 2009
I drove up towards Na Pali from my Lihue hotel at about 6:45 AM, but should have started earlier. The ride to the end of the road in N. Kauai took almost an hour. The “highway”, a narrow road with many single-lane bridges, ends abruptly at Ke’e beach. I picked up a nice walking stick left by a previous hiker, and headed up the Kalalau trail with my backpack. After doing some practice hikes with a 25-lb. backpack, I was in pretty good shape, and I made my first stop (at mile marker 2, Hanikapi’ai beach and campsite) in a little over an hour. The trail to there had some steep spots, rocky spots, and muddy spots – forget walking this trail with flip-flops!. The views were just spectacular, going up switchbacks that overlooked the turquoise Pacific. The Hanikapi’ai beach was tempting but the currents are treacherous normally, and the surf was still rough as hell so I didn’t even hit the beach. I crossed the stream here after taking off my sticks & boots and tying them to my hiking stick. Some considerate person had tied a rope across the stream which made it MUCH easier to ford – just hang on to it and you won’t have to worry about the inevitable slipping.
There’s a waterfall a ways upstream here, but my goal was the higher and more awe-inspiring waterfall at mile marker 6 (Hanakoa). So, I passed on that side trip and soldiered on after checking out the minimal facilities at Hanikapi’ai. Not a camper was in sight, but I did notice a flashlight ensconced in the little lookout that overlooked the beach. This flashlight later became a crucial part of my getting back safely…
Past the 2 mile mark the trail becomes more interesting. It gets tougher and tougher as you go, with numerous uphill, then downhill switchbacks, sometimes ending up in the hot sun. Each time you go around one of the famously beautiful Na Pali ridges you are rewarded with a beautiful overlook of the cliffs touching the ocean, and the view was just breathtaking. All along the trail grow wild violets and many other flowers. The smell is intoxicating.
One minor annoyance was the never-ending helicopters buzzing by. It really ruined the tranquility of the place. Apparently 10 times as many folks take copter rides to check out the Na Pali coast than hike it. Those dummies don’t even know what they’re missing – up close this coast is wild and unbelievably beautiful.
I had my lunch at one of those ocean overlooks at around the 3 mile mark. It was by far the most beautiful location for a lunch I ever had. I then continued on, and heard kind of a strange sound as I headed down a switchback on the trail heading inland. It sounded like a lot off faucets dripping, and turned out to be a little bit of water dripping off a cliff to the trail below. Just a short way further up the trail I came upon the same thing, but with four times as much water. I called it the Wall of Tears. I took off my shirt & cap and stayed under this mini-waterfall for a couple of minutes. How refreshing!
Moving on up the trail, it gets ever narrower and tougher. Some parts of the trail are only a foot or two wide, and put you right next to a 2000 foot drop to rocks, ocean, or some other kind of certain death. I learned quickly to keep my eyes down on the trail, and ignore the deadly, distracting beauty of the views below. Once I turned a corner, and came across a family of wild goats, who bleated and ran down a very steep hill (how do they do that?). I also saw wild turkeys, pheasants, mice, and a rat. Surprisingly, not many bugs kept me company.
About 12:30, I reached Hanakoa (the farthest part of the trail that I wanted to hike) at mile marker 6. I arrived there at 12:30, about 45 minutes longer than anticipated. The trail goes on for 5 miles more to the legendary Kalalau valley, but that’s an overnight trip, which I just don’t have time for. Instead, I chose to soldier on to the waterfalls upstream. I crossed the stream again in a little while, but dropped my boots in this time after slipping (argh). I put on my flip-flops to give the boots a chance to dry out. With some difficulty I found the trail to the Hanakoa waterfall, and crossed the stream again. Then, my right flip-flop came apart! Damn! I was forced to put on the soggy boots (at least I had an extra pair of socks).
The trail was not obvious at this point, but I eventually noticed it was marked with faded colored plastic strips on trees so I was able to follow it. The trail took quite a while to get to the falls, something my Kauai guidebook (which had been unfailingly accurate up to now) failed to mention. After half an hour of hiking I was about to turn around when I heard the falls. After one last strenuous climb I was at its base.
Unpacking my knapsack, I put on my bathing suit but decided against going to the base of the falls without flip flops (just too rocky) and waded in one of the pools instead. Man was that refreshing! I didn’t linger as long as I would have liked – I had to start back before it got dark on the trail. So after taking a few pictures I headed back. After crossing the stream, I searched and searched for the way back to the Kalalau trail. I followed the only trail I saw and realized after a little while that this wasn’t the trail I came up on. I continued anyway, figuring it had to turn onto the Kalalau trail or go down to the stream crossing again. Nope. After 10 more minutes I realized I was going the wrong way on the wrong trail. I turned around and went back to the stream.
The way back to the main trail was nowhere in sight. It isn’t marked at all, and too late I now realized I should have marked the path myself. I walked back and forth on the bogus trail, getting increasingly panicky. It was now maybe 2 PM, and I had to walk 6 tough miles to get back before dark, which would be 6 PM! I was about go cross country to go downstream to the trail’s stream crossing (a dangerous notion in this area, since a hidden cliff can appear in front of you at any point), when I finally spotted the Hanakoa campsite toilet on the other side of the stream. If I could cross the stream here I’d be home free. I started climbing down what appeared to be a dried up streambed, negotiating my way over all the rocks and boulders. After a few minutes I stumbled back onto the trail, and in just a few yards was back at the Kalalau trail stream crossing! I can’t tell you how relieved I was.
Once again, I forded the stream, this time not bothering to take off my boots. I stopped at a picnic table where a young couple headed to Kalalau valley were having their lunch. Even though I had no appetite, I joined them and downed a granola bar while letting my socks and boots dry for a couple of minutes. Then I quickly took off down the path. Well, for a while anyway. I soon saw that I’d be a fool to hustle along the parts of this trail that were narrow and next to a cliff, which was most of the trail for the next 2 miles. Still, I made good time getting to mile marker 4, which is the only actual mile marker I saw on this trail. Oh, I forgot to mention: this was the point where I had somehow got turned around on the trail on the way in, wasting ½ hr. I would have gone back further if I hadn’t come across the same old Chinaman I had just passed 15 minutes earlier! Anyway, I now made sure I didn’t make that mistake again.
At this point I was starting to get very tired. After all, I had been hiking since 7:45 AM, with only a short rest at the waterfall. There was no choice though – I would stop to catch my breath, maybe grab a drink of water or munch on a Twizzler, but I didn’t dare stop for longer. I still remember vividly what it was like coming down off of Haleakala Crater in Maui a year ago, running out of daylight, and tripping over rocks on the hard-to-see “Supply trail”. This trail would be worse, with the trail surrounded by tall trees, hiding what light was left. So, the only real break I took was at the Wall of Tears. That cool little shower really helped me get my second wind.
Soldiering on, I started making better time as the trail got a little wider and less treacherous. Finally, I came upon the Hanikapi’ai campsite. I thought “I’m going to make it”!. But, just in case, I grabbed the flashlight that had been left there and put it my knapsack. As I continued I now realized why the trail had been so easy for the first 2 miles – it was mostly downhill on the way in (duh)! The trail was taking its toll on my legs, the pain getting ever worse, and I was now running out of water too. I counted my steps to get an estimate of how much farther it was – and to keep my mind off the very real possibility that I’d be sleeping on this rocky, muddy trail tonight. Each time I turned the corner on one of the ridges, so that I was on the east side, it became very dark, as the sun was blocked by the ridge. Worse, It had now gotten cloudy, reducing visibility even more (oh, great!). To complete my agony, a fine mist started falling, making the trail even wetter (if that was possible) and slowing my progress even more.
Oddly, with about one mile to go, a girl I saw earlier coming off the trail was coming back up! She was about 19, very pretty, and had a low-cut blouse on, shorts, and nothing else. No pack, no walking stick, and (I thought) no brains. Anybody going up the trail now would HAVE to be very dumb or very stoned. Not only is the trail itself dangerous at dusk, there are some low-life’s on it, and she was really tempting fate. Still, I held my tongue and said nothing except hello.
After another ½ mile, I no longer could see the trail very well. I pulled out the flashlight and used it for the darker portions, then turned it off when I could see better. Then I finally had to leave the flashlight on all the time, and pray that the batteries lasted until I reached the end of the trail. Take my advice: NEVER go hiking without a flashlight! I was now descending a very rocky portion that I thought was near the end. Sure enough, I now heard (and kind of saw) Ke’e Beach, the trailhead. I crawled down the boulders – how in the hell would I have done this without the flashlight?! – and finally reached the end of the trail. It was about 6:15pm, and completely dark outside. I laid down my trusty stick there for another traveler to use, and limped my way to the dorky PT Cruiser I had rented. This car now looked like the most beautiful, luxurious vehicle on the face of the earth. I changed out of my dirty (well, ruined) clothes into a clean shirt and bathing suit, and I drove away in it barefooted.
My adventure wasn’t quite over – I had no gas on the car! I had guessed that the gas gauge exaggerated the emptiness of the tank, and was correct, but I didn’t see a gas station for almost ten miles. Not until I reached a gas station in Princeville and got gas and a soda to drink could I finally relax.
The drive back to my hotel in Ka’paa seemed endless. I had to stop at an ABC store to buy flip-flops, and then pulled at Burger King drive-in for a lame but quick dinner. I retired to my room and watched a House rerun and drank a couple of cold Steinberg beers before falling asleep, wondering where I could find a “I Survived the Kalalau Trail” shirt...
Mick Seeley P.S. Will add more photos when I get a chance!
