My Kaua'i Hiking Adventures

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krudler
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My Kaua'i Hiking Adventures

Post by krudler »

Wifey and I were priveleged to spend the past 11 days on the north shore of Kaua'i (near Hanalei) on a nice vacation. In between surfing, horseback riding, and some other adventures we got to go on some really cool hikes, including up the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali coast a ways and then to an awesome waterfall (Hanakapia'i).

Here's the pics:

We started out on a Sunday afternoon on an impromptu afternoon hike on what is called the Okolehao Trail. It goes up a ridge above Hanalei Bay. From the top (about 1300' of elevation gain in 2 miles) you can see all of Hanalei Bay, up to the Na Pali coast, and out towards the Kilauea Lighthouse in the other direction. It is said you can see 20% of the entire island from the top.

This is the first vista of Hanalei and the mountains inland of there about halfway up the trail:
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Wifey and I decided to continue up the trail, which got sketchier after that point:
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At the top the vista to the other direction towards Princeville/Kilauea was pretty cool:
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We got intermittent showers on the way down, and the trail was muddy and slippery and steep, but it was worth it:
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At the end of the day, we got a nice sunset on the beach at Tunnels near our B&B in Wainiha:
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"Krusty, you know Bette Midler?"
"Yeah we own a racehorse together - the Krudler!"
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krudler
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Post by krudler »

A few days later we decided to go for our adventure on the Kalalau Trail up the Na Pali coast and then up to Hanakapia'i Falls:

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The hike, a challenging 4 miles each way, afforded lots of excellent views. This is early on looking back at our starting point, Ke'e Beach:
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Lots of great places for pics:
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Eventually we came to where we could see the entire Na Pali coast in the distance. Out at sea it was amazingly easy to see humpbacks spouting and breaching with the naked eye, downright awesome with bincoulars.
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After 2 miles and lots of pics/video we reached the first stop, Hanakapia'i Beach, with the requisite cheery sign:
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From there another trail, less distinct and well maintained but relatively easy to follow, followed the stream up the valley to Hanakapia'i Falls (another 2 miles). Lots of stream crossings:
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Typical section of trail:
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The stream itself had many smaller waterfalls and beautiful pools:
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Eventually we reached the falls. No pic could really do it justice, at it was impossible to get in one shot! Its about 400 feet of falls. Wifey was stoked:
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There was a large pool at the base of the falls. I thought about swimming but the water was brutally cold and we had a short time to make it the 4 tough miles back to the trailhead:
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And tough it was:
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It was well worth the effort, but at the end of the day that beer never tasted so good!
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Next day we took a break on another excursion to Kipu Falls and I had fun on the crazy rope swing into the pool below:
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It rained alot, but overall a great time and I highly recommend Kaua'i for any kind of vacation, especially the surfing and hiking! Not to mention the fresh sashimi we got at the fish market each night for dirt cheap.
"Krusty, you know Bette Midler?"
"Yeah we own a racehorse together - the Krudler!"
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Rosabella
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Post by Rosabella »

Sounds like a great trip.... really nice pictures!! Thanks for sharing, Krudler :nod:
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Post by copeg »

Awesome!! I love kauai - have a brother as well as some friends that are living there. Been hearing a lot about all the rain thats been going on there.
I recognize a lot of those places from your photos. Curious if you got to Barking Sands or Waimea Canyon? I love the NaPali coast :nod: Thanks for sharing your pics!
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Post by madeintahoe »

Krudler those are really beautiful pictures! Thank you for posting them...so nice to look at all that green...Love the waterfalls and those beautiful pools :)
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Post by dave54 »

Now you have me all fired up and yearning to go back. It's been 5 years since I last hiked Kauai (Last trip was Maui).

Kauai is my favorite island. The rest are too touristed up.
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krudler
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Post by krudler »

We did get up to Waimea, but since it was raining so much the view was not all that good that day:

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Kauai

Post by Mtflyer »

I was on Kauai a couple of years ago for a friends wedding. We tried to hike to the falls but only made it to Hanakapiai Beach due to the mud, it was hell hiking on that stuff!! :retard: Thanks for posting a pic of it, I finally got to see it.
We did hike to the Alakai Swamp in the rain, lot of slipery mud till we got on the broad walk, really cool stuff there.
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Snow Nymph
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Post by Snow Nymph »

Nice pics! I was born in Hawaii, but have never been to Kauai.
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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hikerduane
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Post by hikerduane »

Love that sunset, very nice. One of the members of another forum I belong to and his wife, got pretty muddy from the mudslide over there recently.
Piece of cake.
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