Tuesday, January 3, 2017

I Have Goals for 2017

I plan on sharing those goals, but first I have to return to Kauai because Kauai was awesome. And because it is 12 degrees outside and I need warm thoughts of Kauai.

In my previous post I promised to share some thoughts about hiking in Kauai. I loved hiking in Kauai. This trip we tackled the first few miles of the Kalalau Trail, a rugged trail along the Napali coast. In order to hike the whole 11 miles, permits need to be pulled and we were too late in applying for these permits to get them (secretly happy that we missed the deadline). The day we hiked the Coast was a bit damp as there was a hurricane off the coast of the Big Island that was wreaking havoc with weather throughout the islands. The wetness caused some challenges along the trail.

The first part of the trail is rocky, and wet rocks are slippery rocks. This was easy peasy compared to the red soil that is found on the rest of the trail. When that soil gets wet, it is like a giant slip and slide. And let me tell you, it was pretty funny to watch and listen to other hikers as they navigate d across the slippery trail. Pretty sure that there were at least 2 couples who probably weren't couples by time they returned to the car.

About a mile into the first 2 mile stretch that is hikeable without a permit, you are hiking along a ridge and the view of the coastline is amazing!

This ridge leads to a steep downhill section that dropped us down to Hanakapi'ai Beach. In order to get to the beach, there is a stream to cross. I'm betting at drier times, this stream is crossable just by boulder hopping. The water was too high to boulder hop so I took off my shoes and socks and fjorded the stream (it was about thigh deep). Back at home, the streams are very cold,  so it was quite pleasant to wade into water that didn't automatically make every sphincter in your body clench.

Carson had beat us down the trail and we came up to the beach to find him like this
After a brief respite and a selfie with my guy
we continued up a spur trail to find Hanakapi'ai Falls.

This trail was a lot muddier, not as heavily traveled so not as maintained, and had many more stream crossings. By time we hit the second crossing, Carson had grown impatient with me taking off my shoes and socks, so he plowed on ahead never to be seen again...well not until Dave and I got to the Falls. I also got tired of taking off my shoes and socks, and honestly my shoes were so wet and muddy from the trail anyway, that I started just walking across the stream with my shoes on. Now, most people might be worried about blisters, but because of my running, I knew the importance of good hiking socks and had worn a lightweight wool pair. I'm happy to report that my feet had no blisters at the conclusion of the hike.

The falls were totally worth the 2 mile slog through mud, muck, pig trails, and multiple waist-deep stream crossings. The travel books suggest the hikers take a dip in the pool that is below the falls and a warmer day I could totally see the appeal. However, it was a rainy day and the mist coming off the falls was cold enough to discourage me from taking a dip. The boys wanted to the full experience so they both jumped in. Dave captured a video of the falls because these are the biggest falls we have been this up close and personal with.

Since this is an out and back hike, and we knew that the rain was moving in quickly therefore the trail would be even more treacherous, we headed back the way we came. As usually happens, the return trip took a little less time than the initial trip. Although, we did have about a quarter mile detour where we thought a pig trail was the real trail and we tromped around in a bamboo forest. Finally, Dave said this isn't right and set off to find the correct trail. Fortunately, as good as Dave is at getting us diverted on to pig trails (it has happened more than once), he is even better at getting us back on the real trail.

If I can talk Dave into going back to Kauai, I want to plan better so we can get a permit to hike the whole 11 mile trail, camp at the end of the trail, and then return the next day. The permits are for overnight camping. I haven't heard of anyone hiking the 22 miles in one day, although one of our zipline guides is trying to accomplish that. He said that so far he has been able to get to 18 miles. I bet he didn't attempt it on a day when it was raining. The slippery rocks, slip-and-slide red soil, and flooded streams would make it next to impossible to get that far.

More hiking posts to follow.

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