Kicking it in Kauai, December 2015

Dave

Broadcaster, formerly "ashergrey"
.
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
1,725
Plans.

They never turn out as planned. In life, in general. Circumstances arise, the plans go down, contingencies replace them.

Such was the case at the conclusion of 2015. I'd intended to spend a week on Oahu, making some significant progress on matters of personal importance. But when that collapsed in November, I found myself with a week-long hole in my schedule and an itch to spend it on an island.

Instead of Oahu then, I reasoned, why not Kauai?

_MG_3663.jpg

The intent? To solo the 11-mile Na Pali Coast to Kalalau Beach. Permits weren't too hard to secure in the uncertain weather of winter in the tropics. Getting all of the necessary supplies into the luggage, on the other hand…

IMG_5179.jpg

Having never been to Kauai, I spent a day acclimating and hitting the typical tourist stuff. That meant driving up Waimea Canyon.

_MG_3558.jpg

_MG_3585.jpg

Calling this the Grand Canyon of the Pacific is kind of an insult to the great gorge of the Colorado. It's pretty, but c'mon. This doesn't have anything on the Colorado.

_MG_3587.jpg

From up top, I scoped out my ultimate destination: Kalalau Beach.

_MG_3603.jpg

Don't slip, it's a long way down. About 5,000 feet.

_MG_3600.jpg

Thick clouds pushed up from the valley moments later, cloaking the rim in opaque mist.

_MG_3614.jpg

Hungering for a sunset, headed back to the south shore.

_MG_3633-HDR.jpg

Clouds were nowhere to be seen but the waves provided plenty of photographic entertainment.

_MG_3686.jpg

Wandering over the tide-slicked lava rock wasn't super smart in a pair of Vans. I about lost my balance a couple of times.

_MG_3675.jpg

It was a struggle to keep the lens from getting splashed.

_MG_3647.jpg

Keeping my feet dry was a lost cause.

_MG_3654-HDR.jpg

Dark set in and I retreated to the hotel room to cram supplies into my too-small Osprey pack.

The following morning I headed north before sunrise. The roads grew more narrow as the sky gained the soft glow of daybreak.

My eyes were constantly scanning the landscape for a good place to pull off and shoot the sunrise. Due to the angles on the north side of the island, the actual sunrise would be obstructed. A band of rocks jutting out of the sand finally caught my eye.

_MG_3739.jpg

Turning to the west, the arc of a rainbow rose out of the dewy morning. A good omen? I hoped so.

_MG_3729.jpg

The busy time had just started at the Na Pali Coast trailhead. Threading through the groups, I at last hit the trail.

_MG_3746.jpg

It was just after 7 a.m. local time, a comfortable 10 a.m. to my Mountain Time Zone body. The first mile or so felt great. Dropping to sea level from my home elevation of about 4,400 feet meant the air felt thick with oxygen.

_MG_3759.jpg

Hanakapiai Beach came quickly.

_MG_3787.jpg

_MG_3800.jpg

Hawaii State Parks goes out of the way to make sure hikers feel welcome here.

IMG_5201.jpg

IMG_5203.jpg

Most of the day hikers turned south headed for the falls. My path continued west. The trail grew snotty with mud.

_MG_3831.jpg

As the trail climbed and dropped, cutting in and out of the countless little valleys, it provided astounding views of the rugged coastline.

_MG_3816.jpg

An endless parade of sightseeing helicopters buzzed overhead.

_MG_3854.jpg

I started to leap-frog a couple of hikers. They were together. I'd speed past them, then stop and they'd cruise past me.

_MG_3857.jpg

This happened a few times before I arrived at the switchbacks dropping down to the so-called Crawler's Ledge.

_MG_3858.jpg

My early excitement at the ease of the low-elevation hike had evaporated. Seven hard miles of heat, humidity and hills had started to take their toll.

_MG_3862.jpg

Not wanting to make the descent alone, I waited until the couple came up behind me on the trail. If bad luck or bad footing took me, I wanted witnesses.

_MG_3864.jpg

We crossed without incident. In the process, a conversation bloomed. Their accents gave them away. Obviously Aussies. Very gregarious.

Our paces fell into line over the next few miles. We chatted, finding the back-and-forth of our talk quite natural.

My head had started to pound from an electrolyte imbalance. They were obviously doing better and so by about mile nine, they had taken the lead.

Still I pushed on, knowing Kalalau awaited. At one point, back in a deep draw, I heard what sounded like the call of a parrot.

_MG_3846.jpg

"Hello! Hello!"

It must have escaped from one of the resorts, I reasoned. Flown away and taken up shop here in the wild.

Then, cresting yet another hill and coming out on the ridge, I saw the Aussies peering down through the thick brush and toward the ocean.

"What's the matter?"

"There's someone down there," the woman said.

"Really? Where."

"I don't know, we can't see her." Then, shouting, "Go left! If you can hear me, keep going left!"

Before long, I spotted a hint of her clothing through the trees. A woman alone, down the steep grade above the cliffs that dropped precipitously to the sea. With a little route finding guidance and some moral support, she made it back to the trail.

The Aussies and I were baffled as to how she'd managed to lose the trail. She asked our names.

"Chez."

"Dos."

"I'm Dave."

"Hello, I'm Susan."

Susan was effusive. She thanked us over and over again for helping give her guidance. We fell into step, our posse of three now congealing like so much Hawaii mud to become four.

Susan, like myself, was soloing. She was no novice, making her navigational mistake even more perplexing. We talked about other places we'd hiked. She described having done the Boulder Mail Trail with an outfitter during the government shutdown a few years prior.

Sue and I were dragging though. We lagged well behind Chez and Dos, who kindly slowed their pace.

_MG_3868.jpg

We made it to Kalalau just in time for the golden sunset.

_MG_3880.jpg

The roar of the high surf crashing on the rocks kept my sleep shallow. When morning came, it broke with such gradual progression from dark to light that it felt as if the world was easing back into the daylight like it was a well-worn couch.

_MG_3906.jpg

Waves struck the sand with hypnotic rhythm.

_MG_3982-HDR.jpg

Walking the beach, I marveled at the force with which they raged against the adjacent cliffs.

_MG_3909.jpg

A boat stopped out beyond the breaking point of the waves. A jet ski started shuttling people from the beach to the larger watercraft. The tug of temptation hit me. A couple hundred bucks and a bit of splashing could get me back to the trailhead without the effort — or mud — of the return hike.

It passed.

I took a shower at the waterfall on the far side of the beach and tried to wash my stinking clothes. It didn't help much.

_MG_3991-HDR.jpg

Back at camp, I ate breakfast and watched the feral cats poke around in search of food.

_MG_3999.jpg

Chez, Dos and I were all permitted through Thursday. However, we were concerned about the portent of unstable weather later into the week. In the interest of caution, we decided to travel halfway back to Hanakoa.

_MG_4003.jpg

Leaving that view behind wasn't easy.

_MG_4025.jpg

_MG_4034.jpg

Still, none of us felt like risking having to cross Crawler's Ledge in the rain.

_MG_4039.jpg

_MG_4044.jpg

Looking back on Kalalau, you could see ocean moisture literally lifting into the air.

_MG_4030.jpg

I kept stopping to peer down at the surf. Broad bands of white froth clung to the rock. Huge waves were rolling in and crashing against the red-brown battlements. When they hit at oblique angles, the waves reflected. On occasion, two of these waves moving perpendicular to the rest of the surf would collide. Then the energy would erupt, jetting spray straight up into the air like a geyser.

_MG_4006.jpg

The breeze came up in the afternoon. It helped abate the heat.

_MG_4063.jpg

Unfortunately, we found Hanakoa was a cesspool of mud and mosquitoes. The scant selection of sites had been picked over, leaving only locations downwind of the composting toilet.

IMG_5241.jpg

We pitched camp and then went upstream to rinse off in one of the many natural pools. Little fish darted around in the green shadows.

IMG_5221.jpg

A light spatter of rain started as we retreated to our beds. It intensified later in the night but tapered out before morning.

No one at Hanakoa needed an alarm clock, as a helicopter came thundering down to the landing site near the campground shortly after daybreak. A couple of maintenance workers hopped to the ground, then the chopper lifted off again and disappeared over the horizon.

After breakfast we packed up again and finished the return hike. On the way, we discovered the night's rain had made the mud much worse.

IMG_5243.jpg

I was carrying at least five pounds of extra weight on my shoes by the time we slid down to Hanakapiai.

_MG_4080.jpg

Crowds were on the beach. A sad looking feral I'd noticed on the way in was still picking around, scavenging.

IMG_5204.jpg

IMG_5246.jpg

The sky turned overcast at midday and the wind came up stronger than it had throughout the whole trip. A large number of people were still headed up toward the falls as we pounded out the final stretch. They all looked so clean and pristine, in comparison to my mud-spattered and windblown appearance.

IMG_5255.jpg

My sense of accomplishment at finishing the trail was mitigated though by the appearance of my rental car in the trailhead parking lot. Thankfully, I hadn't left anything valuable in the car.

IMG_5258.jpg

[PARSEHTML]<iframe src="http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3847512/GPS/Kalalau.kml&t=t4" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="800" height="800"></iframe><br><br>[/PARSEHTML]_MG_3526.jpg
 
A beautiful trip! You take good pictures... quite an understatement! :) I am very green on photography, the effect on some of the shots such as the last one of the sunset, is that a filter or processing?

Cheers!
 
So pretty. Kauai is on my list of islands to visit. thank for sharing. what a beautiful place!
 
Looks like fun. Great pictures and nice flowy narrative.

Sucks about the car rental. Thieves I'm assuming? Did they take anything at all? Any other cars broken into?
 
Looks like a fun photography trip.

Thanks for bringing us something different.
 
I am very green on photography, the effect on some of the shots such as the last one of the sunset, is that a filter or processing?

That last shot of the cruise ship coming in to dock was underexposed in camera. The "effect" comes from having the white balance adjusted to the warm side. It was processed in Adobe Lightroom.
 
Did they take anything at all? Any other cars broken into?

A couple of empty suitcases and a change of clothes. There were no other cars broken into but then again, hardly anyone leaves a car there overnight. Thefts at the trailhead are a well known problem but Hawaii State Parks does absolutely nothing to police the area.
 
Love the cats, especially the one on your luggage. Oh, and nice trip report too! :)
 
What a beautiful looking place. Great pics and report. Dave, how did you take the longer exposures of the water in the daylight without overexposing? Do you use some kind of dark filter on the lens?
 
What a beautiful looking place. Great pics and report. Dave, how did you take the longer exposures of the water in the daylight without overexposing? Do you use some kind of dark filter on the lens?

I carry a 10-stop ND filter but didn't use it on any of those shots. Stopping down aperture and low ISO were key. Most of the long exposures weren't actually all that long, since the water was moving so fast. The longest ones (after sunset on the south shore) were at a period when ambient light was low, allowing for naturally longer shutter speeds.
 
Awesome write up and pics @ashergrey
I don't know any details but I applaud your ability to continue seizing the day although your 'progress' may have hit a speed bump.
thanks for sharing,
Salud!
 
I'd intended to spend a week on Oahu, making some significant progress on matters of personal importance. But when that collapsed in November, I found myself with a week-long hole in my schedule and an itch to spend it on an island.

Sorry for any personal loss or disappointment - whatever this may be.

I mention this only because one of my favorite things about your TR is they often involve
dealing with the unexpected. I like that and it inspires me. Thanks.

Also . . . sun, surf, and lush vegetation make for some great images and you capture it
perfectly.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Lots of gorgeous pictures. You captured water perfectly!

And your luggage cat is super pretty as well. DAWWWW!!!!
 
Beautiful pictures! (as always)

I think hiking in the tropics is a little like hiking in the desert. It takes some acclimation. Also you have to be careful to have enough water in both climates cause you sweat a lot. I was surprised to see that nobody in your pictures was stripped down to swimming suits or shorts. In my experience I always thought that wearing minimal clothing helped with the tropical heat.

I was very interested in reading your description of the impact of crossing waves. When I lived in the tropics I got into body surfing. I liked it so much I went every day. Every once in a while there would be cross waves. Occasionally you'd be lucky enough to be on a wave at the location where they intersected. The impact would literally throw you out of the water. Very exhilarating.
 
Plans.

They never turn out as planned. In life, in general. Circumstances arise, the plans go down, contingencies replace them.

Such was the case at the conclusion of 2015. I'd intended to spend a week on Oahu, making some significant progress on matters of personal importance. But when that collapsed in November, I found myself with a week-long hole in my schedule and an itch to spend it on an island.

Instead of Oahu then, I reasoned, why not Kauai?

View attachment 38808

The intent? To solo the 11-mile Na Pali Coast to Kalalau Beach. Permits weren't too hard to secure in the uncertain weather of winter in the tropics. Getting all of the necessary supplies into the luggage, on the other hand…

View attachment 38846

Having never been to Kauai, I spent a day acclimating and hitting the typical tourist stuff. That meant driving up Waimea Canyon.

View attachment 38811

View attachment 38812

Calling this the Grand Canyon of the Pacific is kind of an insult to the great gorge of the Colorado. It's pretty, but c'mon. This doesn't have anything on the Colorado.

View attachment 38813

From up top, I scoped out my ultimate destination: Kalalau Beach.

View attachment 38815

Don't slip, it's a long way down. About 5,000 feet.

View attachment 38814

Thick clouds pushed up from the valley moments later, cloaking the rim in opaque mist.

View attachment 38809

Hungering for a sunset, headed back to the south shore.

View attachment 38816

Clouds were nowhere to be seen but the waves provided plenty of photographic entertainment.

View attachment 38819

Wandering over the tide-slicked lava rock wasn't super smart in a pair of Vans. I about lost my balance a couple of times.

View attachment 38818

It was a struggle to keep the lens from getting splashed.

View attachment 38817

Keeping my feet dry was a lost cause.

View attachment 38834

Dark set in and I retreated to the hotel room to cram supplies into my too-small Osprey pack.

The following morning I headed north before sunrise. The roads grew more narrow as the sky gained the soft glow of daybreak.

My eyes were constantly scanning the landscape for a good place to pull off and shoot the sunrise. Due to the angles on the north side of the island, the actual sunrise would be obstructed. A band of rocks jutting out of the sand finally caught my eye.

View attachment 38844

Turning to the west, the arc of a rainbow rose out of the dewy morning. A good omen? I hoped so.

View attachment 38839

The busy time had just started at the Na Pali Coast trailhead. Threading through the groups, I at last hit the trail.

View attachment 38820

It was just after 7 a.m. local time, a comfortable 10 a.m. to my Mountain Time Zone body. The first mile or so felt great. Dropping to sea level from my home elevation of about 4,400 feet meant the air felt thick with oxygen.

View attachment 38807

Hanakapiai Beach came quickly.

View attachment 38806

View attachment 38805

Hawaii State Parks goes out of the way to make sure hikers feel welcome here.

View attachment 38847

View attachment 38848

Most of the day hikers turned south headed for the falls. My path continued west. The trail grew snotty with mud.

View attachment 38830

As the trail climbed and dropped, cutting in and out of the countless little valleys, it provided astounding views of the rugged coastline.

View attachment 38804

An endless parade of sightseeing helicopters buzzed overhead.

View attachment 38829

I started to leap-frog a couple of hikers. They were together. I'd speed past them, then stop and they'd cruise past me.

View attachment 38842

This happened a few times before I arrived at the switchbacks dropping down to the so-called Crawler's Ledge.

View attachment 38803

My early excitement at the ease of the low-elevation hike had evaporated. Seven hard miles of heat, humidity and hills had started to take their toll.

View attachment 38840

Not wanting to make the descent alone, I waited until the couple came up behind me on the trail. If bad luck or bad footing took me, I wanted witnesses.

View attachment 38841

We crossed without incident. In the process, a conversation bloomed. Their accents gave them away. Obviously Aussies. Very gregarious.

Our paces fell into line over the next few miles. We chatted, finding the back-and-forth of our talk quite natural.

My head had started to pound from an electrolyte imbalance. They were obviously doing better and so by about mile nine, they had taken the lead.

Still I pushed on, knowing Kalalau awaited. At one point, back in a deep draw, I heard what sounded like the call of a parrot.

View attachment 38821

"Hello! Hello!"

It must have escaped from one of the resorts, I reasoned. Flown away and taken up shop here in the wild.

Then, cresting yet another hill and coming out on the ridge, I saw the Aussies peering down through the thick brush and toward the ocean.

"What's the matter?"

"There's someone down there," the woman said.

"Really? Where."

"I don't know, we can't see her." Then, shouting, "Go left! If you can hear me, keep going left!"

Before long, I spotted a hint of her clothing through the trees. A woman alone, down the steep grade above the cliffs that dropped precipitously to the sea. With a little route finding guidance and some moral support, she made it back to the trail.

The Aussies and I were baffled as to how she'd managed to lose the trail. She asked our names.

"Chez."

"Dos."

"I'm Dave."

"Hello, I'm Susan."

Susan was effusive. She thanked us over and over again for helping give her guidance. We fell into step, our posse of three now congealing like so much Hawaii mud to become four.

Susan, like myself, was soloing. She was no novice, making her navigational mistake even more perplexing. We talked about other places we'd hiked. She described having done the Boulder Mail Trail with an outfitter during the government shutdown a few years prior.

Sue and I were dragging though. We lagged well behind Chez and Dos, who kindly slowed their pace.

View attachment 38802

We made it to Kalalau just in time for the golden sunset.

View attachment 38801

The roar of the high surf crashing on the rocks kept my sleep shallow. When morning came, it broke with such gradual progression from dark to light that it felt as if the world was easing back into the daylight like it was a well-worn couch.

View attachment 38843

Waves struck the sand with hypnotic rhythm.

View attachment 38833

Walking the beach, I marveled at the force with which they raged against the adjacent cliffs.

View attachment 38822

A boat stopped out beyond the breaking point of the waves. A jet ski started shuttling people from the beach to the larger watercraft. The tug of temptation hit me. A couple hundred bucks and a bit of splashing could get me back to the trailhead without the effort — or mud — of the return hike.

It passed.

I took a shower at the waterfall on the far side of the beach and tried to wash my stinking clothes. It didn't help much.

View attachment 38832

Back at camp, I ate breakfast and watched the feral cats poke around in search of food.

View attachment 38823

Chez, Dos and I were all permitted through Thursday. However, we were concerned about the portent of unstable weather later into the week. In the interest of caution, we decided to travel halfway back to Hanakoa.

View attachment 38824

Leaving that view behind wasn't easy.

View attachment 38838

View attachment 38836

Still, none of us felt like risking having to cross Crawler's Ledge in the rain.

View attachment 38835

View attachment 38826

Looking back on Kalalau, you could see ocean moisture literally lifting into the air.

View attachment 38837

I kept stopping to peer down at the surf. Broad bands of white froth clung to the rock. Huge waves were rolling in and crashing against the red-brown battlements. When they hit at oblique angles, the waves reflected. On occasion, two of these waves moving perpendicular to the rest of the surf would collide. Then the energy would erupt, jetting spray straight up into the air like a geyser.

View attachment 38825

The breeze came up in the afternoon. It helped abate the heat.

View attachment 38827

Unfortunately, we found Hanakoa was a cesspool of mud and mosquitoes. The scant selection of sites had been picked over, leaving only locations downwind of the composting toilet.

View attachment 38851

We pitched camp and then went upstream to rinse off in one of the many natural pools. Little fish darted around in the green shadows.

View attachment 38850

A light spatter of rain started as we retreated to our beds. It intensified later in the night but tapered out before morning.

No one at Hanakoa needed an alarm clock, as a helicopter came thundering down to the landing site near the campground shortly after daybreak. A couple of maintenance workers hopped to the ground, then the chopper lifted off again and disappeared over the horizon.

After breakfast we packed up again and finished the return hike. On the way, we discovered the night's rain had made the mud much worse.

View attachment 38854

I was carrying at least five pounds of extra weight on my shoes by the time we slid down to Hanakapiai.

View attachment 38828

Crowds were on the beach. A sad looking feral I'd noticed on the way in was still picking around, scavenging.

View attachment 38849

View attachment 38852

The sky turned overcast at midday and the wind came up stronger than it had throughout the whole trip. A large number of people were still headed up toward the falls as we pounded out the final stretch. They all looked so clean and pristine, in comparison to my mud-spattered and windblown appearance.

View attachment 38845

My sense of accomplishment at finishing the trail was mitigated though by the appearance of my rental car in the trailhead parking lot. Thankfully, I hadn't left anything valuable in the car.

View attachment 38853

[PARSEHTML]<iframe src="http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gma...sercontent.com/u/3847512/GPS/Kalalau.kml&t=t4" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="800" height="800"></iframe><br><br>[/PARSEHTML]View attachment 38810


Filling a Void. Beautiful @Dave
 
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