Tackling the Kalalau Trail

The Kalalau Trail is famous for it's jaw-dropping views along Kaua'i's Na Pali Coast.  The 11-mile trail takes two days to hike but is the only way to access the Kalalau valley.  It is an extremely strenuous hike, rated a '9' out of '10' by the Sierra Club.  Most day hikers journey the first two miles to Hanakapi'ai Beach for a mini-Na Pali experience.  We were going to skip this hike but KLP's sister would not stop raving about how amazing a hike it is and that it "changed her life".  How could we deny KLP a similar experience?

The trail starts at Ke'e Beach at the other end of the road.  To get there from our cabin we had to drive in a giant backward 'C'.  After wrangling for a parking space we laced up and set out on the trail.  We passed through small valleys and streams and had panoramic views of the coast that many people only see from either the water or the air.

After two miles we crossed another stream, this one deep and fast enough to require us to remove our shoes and socks, and arrived at Hanakapi'ai Beach.  The water beckoned us to cool off but we had been sufficiently warned (by guidebooks and many signposts) that the water here is very dangerous.  We enjoyed our trail mix under the shade of a cave, which also provided us shelter for the typical Hawaiian downpour.  We took in all of the sights:  the water, the sand, the caves, and the naked men.  The walk back was dry and hot and felt like it was all uphill.  But very pretty!

To continue our North Shore tour we made a brief stop at Hanalei Beach for A to take a dip and for everyone to change into clean clothes. Then we drove through Hanalei and the ritzy Princeville neighborhood (home of the St. Regis Hotel) and made a brief stop at the Hanalei Valley lookout.

Looking at the map we decided to seek out a west-facing spot to watch the sunset.  But wait!  There's the ice cream store that's written up in Lonely Planet!  Kilauea Video Ice Cream and Candy might not make their own ice cream (it's Tropical Dreams-brand, made on the Big Island) but it's still local and the ice cream is definitely high-end.

Getting back to that sunset, we hoped the Kilauea lighthouse would be a picturesque sunset spot but the road to the lighthouse was closed and the land blocked our view.  So we went back to Hanalei beach and watched the surfers and paddleboarders with the sun dropping behind them.  And when the sun finally slipped away all of the people gathered on the beach applauded.