17 May Vacation on Kaua’i Day 7 – Backpacking Kalalau Day 5

Wednesday Apr 14

Having no aims to hike all the way out, we slept in (by farm standards) on our final morning at the beach. The sun was again shining, hitting the ocean water first giving it that irresistible aqua hue. I needed to go for an ocean swim IMMEDIATELY. It was early enough that most of the other campers weren’t very far from their tents yet, and not wanting to hike out with wet swim suits we opted to go au natural (a common theme on the beach, acceptable anytime or place). We sprinted down the beach and dove into the water — feeling instantly rejuvenated as we played in the early morning waves. We ran back to our campsite and dried off, Aaron started making us a big oatmeal breakfast as I went down to the waterfall to rinse the sand off my feet and do a final wash up before donning my hiking clothes. We ate a big breakfast of four oatmeal packets, plus extra granola, dried raisins, and chia seeds while we slowly packed up camp. We found Kris and Danny to say good bye, making double sure we had swapped contact info so we could share photos after the trip.

By 10a we were finally ready to roll out, satisfied with the slightly lower weight of our packs, and excited to take our time hiking back out and exploring a couple other trails we’d heard mention of. We were first trying to find the Mango Stadium — an oceanside natural amphitheater of giant mango trees and stone seating. Supposedly there was a small goat path leading along the ocean to reach it, just before you ascend out of Kalalau Valley. So we’d drop our packs when we saw a trail, not knowing if it was a real trail to somewhere or just a goat path that would dead end at some impassable physical barrier like the ocean or a cliff. We ended up hiking about 2-2.5 miles of scouting trails — not finding the mango amphitheater but again, feeling like we did find the proper area and just didn’t follow through on extra way finding. Oh well, some secrets are meant to be kept by locals only 🙂

The hike out was just as thrilling as the way in, and our first 5 miles of steep ascents and cliffs went smoothly and happily as we made our way.

Upon reaching Hanakoa around 2p, we decided to continue on and camp at Hanakapi’ai, giving ourselves an easier Thursday hike out of only 2 miles. Still we took a long break right after the camping area and snacked on the last of our jerky, some granola, and RX bars. We crossed paths with 3-4 groups of hikers on their way in, and gave token smiles and words of encouragement, along with realistic estimates of how much they had left to hike. Shortly after Hanakoa, our sightings of people fell drastically and I was a little surprised to find zero people at the popular day hike destination of Hanakapi’ai Beach when we arrived there at 5p. We scouted the camping areas and set our packs down, and I felt a little energetically drained and wanted to eat something before attempting whatever came next. As we sat, we studied the dark clouds that hung up valley, thinking about the sprinklings of rain we hiked through on our way there. We pondered our options of camping at the beach as we’d planned, or how much we had left in the tank to make it the final two miles out. I think both of us knew what the other wanted to do without even discussing it, but we both tentatively located that we’d each be ok with attempting to finish the hike. Something about hiking 9+ miles made the final 2 miles seem like a quick jaunt — it was of course another 700 ft of elevation gain, BUT there was also beer waiting for us in the car… The only thing motivating us to pitch camp there was a desire to use up all nights on our permit, like if we didn’t we’d be wasting a night in the backcountry. But in the end it was an easy and pretty quick decision. Deceptively easy of course, for how difficult that final two miles would end up being. We finished our snacks and prepared to cross Hanakapi’ai River a final time. I lazily thought I could cross the river in bare feet instead of spending the extra 2 min putting on my keens, and almost immediately slipped on a moss-covered underwater rock and lost my balance, dunking myself waist deep in the river. Cursing at my foolishness, I climbed back out of the river and put my keens on to cross the river properly, then changed back into my hiking boots on the other side.

The final ascent was now under our feet, and I was so ready to get this hike moving swiftly as the daylight minutes ticked by. I set a swift uphill pace, knowing this section of the trail better than any other, ready to stair-climb for just short of a mile. Even Aaron was impressed by my pace as I shut out thoughts of knee pain, foot pain, back pain, armpit pain, hip pain and just forced into a sort of flow state of up and up and up. We finally reached the .5 mile (from the end) marker, situated at the first overlook of the Na’pāli coast, just as the sun was about 10 minutes away from setting. We cheered our progress, seeing some of the buildings at the Ke’e beach area from above, and got out the phone to take some end-of-hike selfies in the glowing sunset-light. At exactly that moment, two guys came swiftly up the trail opposite us, and asked if we wanted a photo. How coincidental that the ONLY two people we saw after mile 5, were right at the end when we needed a “mission accomplished” photo of ourselves!

We finished the final half mile in the near-dark, steep-stepping trail down to the parking lot, arriving at 7:10p. My phone estimated we’d hiked over 14 miles that day!

Back the trailhead by dusk!

We stopped at the beach showers to rinse off the sweat and change into slightly less dirty clothes on our way to the parking lot. The final .25 mile to the car was fully in the dark, as we nervously approached wondering what state we’d find the rental. I’d heard that cars left at the trailhead overnight are frequently broken into and robbed, so we’d stored all our other luggage and belongings at the farm, leaving only a couple beach towels, a few items of clothing, and cooler of beer in the car. We also left the doors all unlocked, so in the event that our car was rifled through — at least there wouldn’t also be a broken window to deal with. But upon getting to our car, everything was exactly as we’d left it 4.5 days prior. We loaded up our gear, and popped a couple warm beers to celebrate.

We drove the mile back down to Haena Beach Park, and easily converted the back of the car into our sleeping area for the night. We quickly heated up some boiling water for two more pouch dinners and I used my tiny 1-bar of LTE service to text Luna (our island point person) and my mom that we made it out from the backcountry. We gave up finishing our dinner and saved leftovers from one for breakfast, promptly passing out by 9p. What a day!