Strangers, waiting. LIH airport.
Morgan and Orion.
Marcus and Marika.
A shot from Hanalei Bay Lookout.
Passing through Hanalei.
Left to right: me, Morgan, Marcus, Orion, Marika, Kia. We hired drivers to drop us off and pick us up to the trail parking lot.
The view of Hanakāpīʻai beach from the cliffside before we desecend.
This beach is about two miles onto the trail, which up until this point only a day pass is required. A lot of people just hike to this beach and enjoy the beach. From here you can also hike into Hanakāpīʻai Valley to Hanakāpīʻai Falls which is another 4 mile round trip.
There are multiple stream crossings throughout the hike, this is the first one, Hanakāpīʻai Stream. Difficulty differs with how hard it's rained in the valley recently. Some people will opt to take their shoes off and wade in the water. This is also the first source of fresh running water from the start of the hike.
A view of Hanakāpīʻai Valley.
Resting for lunch at the midway point of the hike, Hanakoa Stream which comes in from Hanakoa Valley.
Wildlife.
Hanakoa Valley Cat; will come around for food.
Nā Pali means “the cliffs” or “many cliffs” in Hawaiian.
This is the descent into the infamous Crawlers Ledge which is what many would consider the most treacherous part of the trail. The section is dangerous due to very crumbly soil and rock which one could easily slip if you're not careful.
The slide down, if you slip.
Did someone say granola?
We reached the campsite right at sunset, perfect timing.
My hammock/rainfly set up for the weekend.
Jumping in the water after a long day of hiking is so refreshing!
Kalalau Beach, facing east.
The cliffs above the Kalalau camping area.
Our camp setup. I was the only only one with a hammock, everyone else in my group did tents.
This is the waterfall at the end of the campsite and is the only source of running freshwater unless you go back to the Kalalau Stream 20 minutes back. This is used for drinking water, showering, washing clothes, and washing dishes. If you're lucky, there might be some ripe papayas.
Morning crashes.
Later on during the day we did a short hike to the mouth of Kalalau Valley.
Our second Kalalau sunset, and a passing cruise ship.
The type of people who hikes 11 miles just to camp just to hike some more.
Some people we met on the trail and saw at camp invited us to their camp bonfire. It was smoky.
From Kalalau Beach, facing west. You can see the camp waterfall on the left. If you walk down the beach there are some alcoves and caves you can walk into. At the time we went, the caves were not accessible due to the water being too high. It's still a nice walk along the cliffs though!
Throughout the day there are some ships (this might be the same ship from yesterday, idk), but also boats and helicopters passing by to enjoy the Nā Pali from the water and the air.
These two guys camped by us and were super friendly. Guy on the right is wearing a shirt from a dive shop I've been to in Guam!
Exploring the freshwater ponds/pools on the Kalalau stream. Right behind me is where the stream feeds into the ocean. We saw lots of crabs.
From the end of the Kalalau stream looking eastward.
We did another hike, this time trying to get to the end of the valley which should be a 4 mile round trip.
We made some wrong (or right depending on how you look at it) turns and ended exploring up the stream. There were lots of different plants and birds. This picture is as we were headed back out of the valley, probably around the same place we took a picture at the day before. I think the cruise ship is finally leaving.
This guy hiked 11 miles and joined us for dinner.
Breakfast to fuel up before hiking 11 miles back.
Looking back before leaving.
Did someone say granola couple?
One of many sea caves on the trail.
Almost there!
Randy and Glenn, who drove us on the first day, waiting to pick us up at the parking lot.
Parking lot dog waiting for scritches.
Made it! 22 miles round trip (23 for Morgan, Orion, and I as we hiked to Hanakoa Falls at lunch). I wouldn't describe myself as a spiritual person but I would definitely describe this as a spiritual experience, and couldn't have asked for a more perfect group to do it with.
Post trip debrief and dessert; because sometimes you experience something so extraordinary with people you have to talk about it with sugar. Amongst other things during the trip, we ended up bonding over our mutual love for the Lord of the Rings, which we ended up watching (extended edition, obviously) together after we got back.