Having done the most known trail in the island, we wanted to explore the other side, which doesn’t necessarily means opposite side of the island. If you look up a map of Kauai, you’ll notice a single road that circles most of the island. On one end you are at the eastern side of the Napali Coast. On the other side, you get to Waimea. This leaves a section of the island that has no roads. From Waimea, the Kokee road takes all the way up to the top of the Kaunuohua Ridge where one side falls abruptly to the Napali coast and the other towards the Alaka’i Swamp and Waimea Canyon. In that area there are numerous trails but interestingly enough, not as much information unless you get a detailed Kauai hiking book or stop at the Kokee lodge and ask in the museum. From there we got the recommendation of not to miss this trail and the canyon trail (story coming up). We’re glad we did as this hike, although short, has some of the best views you can get in the island and take the pictures that define hiking in Kauai. The trail starts from the viewpoint at the end of the road which, for most people is sufficient. From that point, and most of the trail, just turning your head to the left gives you a complete view of the Kalalau Valley surrounded by the impressive Kaaalahina Ridge on the east side and the Kalepa Ridge on the west.
This makes hiking this trail a bit difficult though. As this place get a lot of rain through the year, the trail itself is muddy and slippery. If you are focusing only on the incredible scenery, there’s a big chance you’ll roll down the hill in red dirt. The first section of the trail is very wide and descend to a saddle that only slightly changes your perspective of the canyon. After that, it gets more interesting. The trail narrows and gets more difficult with numerous sections where you have to grab on to branches and roots to continue. It’s almost impossible to come out of this trail clean so the best course of action is just to accept it and get dirty. After the saddle, the trail ascend to the Pihea Viewpoint which only offers limited views of the canyon that are not as good as the ones you get along the trail. Generally this is a good point to turn around but the recommended us taking the trail down to the Alaka’i swamp. According to the description, is one of the wettest spots on earth. We didn’t see much of that although, while we were at the Pihea viewpoint, we saw a huge cloud cover the entire ridge and block all views for about 30 seconds just to disappear as quickly. Most of the trail from that point on, travels on wood planks that are elevated from the forest ground. There are a couple of sections that are tricky to negotiate as the trail steeply descends without good handholds or uses stairs with missing steps. Once you are in the swamp area, the vegetation gets very dense with big leafy plants and ferns. It’s certainly a beautiful place. We continued on this trail up to a four way junction where you can continue on the Pihea trail to Sugi Grove Camp or take the Alaka’i trail going either way to Kilohana on the east or the Alaka’i picninc area on the west.
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