Last month, Val and I went to Kauai for a short relaxing vacation. Being the island that has the best hiking opportunities of the Hawaiian Islands, we couldn’t let pass the opportunity to explore a bit so we started with the Hanakapi’ai Falls hike which shares the first 2+ miles of the famous Kalalau trail. The Kalalau trail is an 11 miles stretch on the Napali coast on northwest side of the island that is inaccessible by any other means. The waterfall is a 2 miles hike from the Kalalau trail and the only destination you can reach with the need of a backpacking permit for the Kalalau trail. Needless to say, this trail is very popular so solitude is nonexistent. In fact, when we drove to the trailhead, located at the end of the road, we were not able to find a parking spot so we had to backtrack on the road for about a mile until we found a spot to park. This seems to be quite common unless you get to the trailhead early in the morning. The extra walk was not bad either as we passed the Haena Dry Cave and the mouth of the Waikanaloa Wet Cave. But once you hit the trail you soon start going up on well stumped trail that is muddy pretty much all year long. Soon after you start though, the trail comes to a turn that opens up to the ocean and you get the view that you’ll most of the hike. Blue ocean, Kee Beach on the corner behind you, and the Napali Coast line in front with all its cliffs and ridges. It’s a pretty dramatic sight. For the most part, the trail is pretty easy to follow and pretty wide. There are a couple of sections where it goes steeply down that can be tricky. With all the mud, is difficult to get a secure footing so it can be east to slip and fall. For a bit over an hour, we walked this undulating trail as it came out to the ocean and went back in passing one or two small streams until we got to a steep descent down into the Hanakapi’ai Stream. That’s when we got to the first challenge.
To continue on, you have to cross this stream with running water up to your mid-thigh. On the other side there’s a small campground that I wouldn’t think a lot of people use, but if you make a turn towards the coast, a short path takes you to Hanakapi’ai Beach. This small white sand beach is half covered in river rocks that tourist and visitors have piled into hundreds of cairns. It’s quite the spectacle to see. And certainly something not to miss. Continuing on, we found the fork between the Kalalau Trail and the fall trail so we made the turn and started climbing. For all the people we saw trying to cross the stream, we thought we would see more people heading up to the waterfall but that was not the case. The trail head south leaving the ocean behind pretty quick as it enters a tropical bamboo forest. We knew from the hike description that we would be crossing the stream pretty soon, what we didn’t know is that you cross it several times. So at first we thought about taking our shoes off but then we decided it was better to just continue on with our shoes and dry them afterwards. Not only it was going to make it easier to cross but also safer. I literally lost count how many times we crossed the creek and all of them had their share of challenge. At some point we got a small clearing where we saw the big rock wall the encircles the canyon we were in and right in the middle our destination. With all the waterfalls we have in Oregon, our expectations were not too high and I think it was a good thing because the waterfall was actually pretty spectacular. Getting to it was a bit of challenge but just after you pass the last trees and meet the pond where it lands, you’re welcomed with the entire view and a good shower. I couldn’t say there’s a spot where you can stand without getting pretty drenched so taking pictures is not an easy task. After enjoying the falls for a while, we returned the way we went in retracing our steps as the sun was quickly traveling to the horizon. It’s certainly a worthwhile hike despite the extra mud in your shoes and legs.
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