As I started on the Kalalau trail, I experienced mixed feelings of excitement to be on the actual hiking trail and at the fruition of all my planning and preparation efforts as well as some anxiety regarding my ability to complete the full hike in on a single day.
Trailhead
View very soon into the hike
We were immediately treated to views of clear blue waters from the first moments of the hike. What surprised me most about the trail (and to my relief) was the amount of it that was shaded. Coupled with overcast weather (luckily not enough condensation to produce rain), I felt that we had the perfect conditions to complete the trail without it feeling too arduous and strenuous.
Observations of the trail per mile:
Mile 1: Start of our long trek, adrenaline ran strong. Gradual incline. Great views of waters below from the get go. Trail not too steep nor narrow.
Mile 2: Descended to Hanakapiai Stream. River was running strongly, but not rushing. Able to hop rocks across, though tip of shoe dipped into water. Slightly damp foot didn't hinder me for rest of the hike, fortunately. Saw trail to Hanakapiai Falls and Beach, as well as outhouse, but continued on towards Kalalau. Bottleneck at the stream crossing, but once passed it, less congestion as the number of people petered out.
Mile 3: Passed a short fence aimed to keep pigs and goats from crossing over. Found ti leaves, which we put on our backpacks to help ward off negative vibes, per Hawaiian superstition. Trail became more exposed in this area.
Miles 4-5: Don't remember anything particularly memorable along these two miles. Snacked on cranberries and M&Ms to sustain our energy.
Mile 6: Reached the middle campsite in Hanakoa Valley. Definite breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Refilled our water source at the stream. Continued on our way past the campsite. Got slightly confused on where to continue on the trail to Kalalau since various paths branched off to camping areas. Had to ask another hiker which was the right path to continue to Kalalau. Walked a bit before we decided to sit down for a lunch of chicken pesto and cheese with crackers. Later exited the rainforest-like conditions of the campsite to a section of grassy knolls that looked like they belonged in Europe. Traveled on descending switchbacks with loose gravel and rocks, though didn't feel dangerous.
Mile 7: Infamous Crawler's Ledge. Not as scary as portrayed online, as path was wider than people made it seem. Passed through easily.
Mile 8: Start of red dirt area. Body still feeling strong.
Mile 9: Switchbacks that didn't offer any spectacular views. Weight of pack and burden on knees started to be felt in this stretch. Body physically and mentally exhausted; the going was tough.
Mile 10: Surprised at how quickly we arrived at the Kalalau sign. Surge in energy since we knew there was only one short mile left to the end. Saw lots of goats nibbling on mountainside. Came across huge stream, where we refilled water.
Mile 11: Sound of loud, crashing waves as we walked through campsite to find a spot to set up. We made it earlier than anticipated, arriving around 3:30-4:00 in the afternoon. Ultra happy that we made such good time since it allowed us more time to settle in and stroll leisurely around campsite before sunset.
Our first task was setting up our tent. We tried to do a time-lapse video, only to find that the phone had fallen down in the first few seconds so the video is about a second of the tent set up while the rest of the 2-minutes is of the trees and sky.
Afterwards, we went to collect water. We walked out to the beach and up to the waterfall area to replenish our stores of water. We then stayed at the beach to enjoy the sunset, as did practically every other hiker/hippie that was out there. When the sun disappeared under the horizon, we went back to the waterfall for a quick, cold shower, and then settled at our tent. Jack tried his hand at creating fire, pulling out a bunch of things he planned to burn, including twigs and branches collected from near our campsite, matches, cotton balls doused in Vaseline, and crayons. He was able to hold a flame for a whopping 10 seconds before it went out. Everyone else seemed to know what they were doing, sustaining their heat source long enough to cook their meals. Luckily our MREs contained flameless ration heaters that required only the addition of a minimal amount of water. We had a warm dinner of chili with beans and barley stew, finished our meals and laid down to sleep at around 8:00pm.
The next morning, we woke early enough to walk out to the beach again to catch part of the sunrise. After hanging out on the beach for while, admiring the towering mountains that served as a backdrop to the roaring beach, we revisited the waterfall to refill our water and headed back to our tent. We ran into a friendly man from Canada who made small talk with us. Jack wanted to try his hand again at creating a fire, this time to heat up his oatmeal breakfast. First, he fashioned a makeshift bowl from a piece of aluminum foil in which to contain the oatmeal. He then created a wall of rocks to block out wind as he lit whatever resources we had left to sustain the flame. I also had a chance to join in the fun, getting startled a few times as sparks spewed out at random moments during my time tending to the fire. The oatmeal warmed up a bit by the time we went through everything we could light up. We enjoyed a simple breakfast of oatmeal with salt and jam and crackers with jam and dried cranberries.
Moon visible in the morningtime
After consuming our first meal of the day, we decided to go back towards
the main stream we passed on our way in and explore in that opposite
direction of our camp. Before we started off, Jack managed to find two
huge hiking sticks for us to use. We passed by other campsites and
admired the creative novelty of items used to form makeshift dining
areas.
When we reached the stream, we continued upwards to see what was higher up. In our exploration, we picked a lemon off a nearby tree, which we ended up bringing back to Oahu. We ate a lunch of beef stew and tortellini before heading back downstream. At this time, we ran into the Canadian guy again, who engaged in some more chit chat. Instead of turning to the trail that would lead us back to the campsite, we continued further downstream so I could take a shower in a more secluded area. The mossy rocks were a little challenging to navigate; at one point, I slipped and hit my leg somewhere on a boulder. Fortunately, it wasn't a nasty spill. While I was grooming myself, Jack went to explore a nearby side trail in that area. He returned to my bathing spot to report that he discovered a picturesque spot that would allow us to capture the full mountains and beach of Kalalau valley.
We then walked back to the campsite. Since we had some time to kill, we decided to break down and re-set our tent to be successfully captured as a time-lapse video. Then, we headed to the beach to do a little sunbathing. We noticed that the beach was bare, and thought it to be odd that no one would be out on the beach. When we found a spot to lay down and sunbathe, we understood why the beach was barren; strong winds caused the sand to whip at our faces and bodies. Our tolerance for the blasting pain forced us to cut our time on the beach short, and, instead, we headed back to our tent.
We discussed and determined that it would be wiser for us to hike out a few miles on this evening so that we wouldn't have to complete the full 11-mile trek out on our last day. We remembered passing by a spot that would serve as the perfect and secluded camping area that wouldn't be prone to mosquitoes but would still be close to a water source. So, we slowly packed up to begin our trek back out to an unofficial campsite. We headed out around 4:00. It started to drizzle at that time, so we pulled out our ponchos. Jack ripped his immediately. Our exploration earlier that day disoriented us a bit, so we turned at the wrong point and somehow backtracked to the campsite. Of course, we ran into the Canadian guy again, who asked if we were lost because he thought he saw us heading out. After we embarrassingly admitted that we were indeed trying to head out, he helped point us in the right direction. Along the way, we ran into a few hikers who were making their way in. Several of them asked if we were trying to hike all the way out and seemed concerned at how late we were heading out. When we told them we were only doing a portion of the hike until we reached the campsite, they seemed to relax a bit.
The short detour made me a bit anxious, so I tried to walk faster to make up for the time we spent walking aimlessly back to the Kalalau campsite. We tried to do double time up up a red dirt hill area, but didn't realize at the steepness of the incline. We were huffing and puffing at the top. Jack popped some Gatorade chews for an energy boost. We almost got lost at another point of the trail that was in one of the valleys, but managed to catch it early enough so that we didn't veer too far off the main path. We finally reached the unofficial campsite well before sunset, with enough time to refill our water and set up our tent (we decided not to put up the tent cover) before dark. Interestingly, we found many goats grazing in a small clearing near our campsite and took a few videos.
What we didn't see the first time we passed this camping area on our way in was a creepy-looking hut made from dirt, twigs, and leaves. Jack noticed it first and tried to call out to see if it was occupied. No one responded. It scared the crap out of me, but by that time we didn't really have any other choice and had to remain there for the night. When darkness fell, our minds were preoccupied by our dinner of peas and tomatoes and ratatouille with a cocoa beverage. We also headed out to an small open area where we would be able to look up into the clear night sky. Since the mountains blocked out all the city lights on the other side, we were shrouded in a darkness that allowed us to admire the millions of stars in the night sky. It was a breathtaking sight to behold; and one that we felt truly exemplified the beauty that hikers who passed by us on our way in described of the trail.
When we went back into our tent to try to sleep, with nothing else on our minds, that is when the spookiness of the hut got to the both of us. We didn't let each other in on our thoughts of paranoia, but Jack was apparently replaying images of the movie
The Hills Have Eyes while I imagined an unkempt man creeping up to our tent with an axe, ready to silence us forever for intruding onto his turf (we relayed this to each other the next morning in the daylight). After tossing and turning, Jack and I realized that neither of us had really fallen asleep. When we checked out watch, it was only 8:00pm. We were in for a long night.
We were restless that night, but I believe we both got some light shut-eye in at some point. I awoke to rain falling on my face around 2:00am, as I was directly under the open tent window. I shook Jack awake so we could try to salvage our supplies and save them from the rain. Good thing we packed our things in Ziploc bags, which kept them dry for the most part. We used the tent cover that wasn't over tent (as it should have been) as a layer that we sat and set our supplies on that provided some protection from the water that seeped through the tent floor. Although water was dripping through the top of the tent, we were able to keep relatively dry by covering ourselves with emergency blankets. The rains didn't last the entire night, but the inside of the tent remained wet until the morning. We tried to fall asleep resting our backs against each other, but didn't get much better sleep in a sitting position.
Finally, at around 5:30/6:00 in the morning, there was enough light for us to get out of the tent and start getting ready for the rest of the hike out. We ate a simple breakfast of oatmeal with maple syrup, packed everything up, and headed out around 7:30. We moved at a more cautious pace with the rains wetting the trail and making it slippery. Some observations on the hike back out:
Mile 11: Lots of side trails to various campsites, so need to remember which is the main path when heading out.
Mile 10: Didn't realize how steep it was going down on the first day in; got a great, albeit unexpected, cardio workout.
Goat in the middle of the trail
Mile 9: In the valley, be careful that you know where to turn to continue on the right path; better to do this in the daylight than towards evening like we had.
Mile 8: Felt this was the most dangerous part of the trail with loose red dirt that was slightly slanted outwards. Precarious especially after rains when the dirt becomes slippery mud that offers little traction. One misstep and tumbling down the cliff you would go.
Mile 7: Tried to look again for Crawler's Ledge. Even after the rains, this section wasn't scary. There is a point that you need to turn slightly up instead of continuing straight on the path; luckily someone marked this spot with rocks/paint so that we didn't venture too far off on the incorrect path.
Mile 6: Reached middle campsite, which was more wet and humid than the first time we passed it. Could have just been me, but seemed like people at that camp were more miserable. Stream water was gushing more than during our trek in, but still at a manageable pace and level that we could cross safely. Took shoes off for this crossing so my feet wouldn't stay wet in my shoes.
Mile 5, 4: Met a hunting couple with bows and arrows passing by in this area.
Mile 3: Started to get tired at this point. Joints aching.
Mile 2: Pain in legs getting exponentially worse. Lots of people at the stream, which led to congestion.
Mile 1: Last mile was especially excruciating. We thought we could get out in 5 hours, but ended up taking closer to 6 hours. Could tell with every step that we were suffering. No spring to our step; more like tortoises where we made it out slowly, but surely. Felt much relief when we reached the trailhead again.
We took a shower at the beach and headed back out to civilization. Tired as heck, but satisfied that we completed the hike! My muscles were not as sore the next few days. Definitely deserve to check this item off my bucket list.
