Kalalau

I found this link about kayaking Na Pali-- it said that in order to do the trip you should be in peak physical condition and have previous kayaking experience. Oops. Now where was I? Oh, that's right--arms falling off and stomach empty. When we landed at Kalalau, I thought I would have to live there forever--there was no way I was kayaking twice as far the next day.

Kalalau is a magical place--that's what you always hear. It's a place everyone on the island knows about but not everyone has been. After seeing the Kalalau Trail from the kayak, I have lost all ambition to hike it. Looks horribly hard. And I saw it all anyway from kayaking--I've hiked the first and last mile of the trail, I think I'll leave the other 9 miles to mystery.

Kalalau is remote, but there was a surprising amount of people there. I suppose it makes sense--the valley is famed throughout the Islands and the trail is every hiker's challenge. I don't know what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised. There were maybe 100 people in total camping up on the bluff above the beach. Head one way and there was the trail, head the other way and there's a composting outhouse and a ranger station. At the far end of the beach is a little waterfall with PVC pipes to direct the stream and a hole in the side of the rock for soap. It was remote, but at the same time homey. It's so hard to describe... What also floored me was for as remote as the location was, I still saw a few people there I knew!

We landed on the beach and after reapplying sunscreen and grabbing our lunch, we hiked about a mile to a freshwater stream, so cold and peaceful that I completely forgot how horrible my morning had been. We ate deli sandwiches and fruit and relaxed on the big rocks and cool water and shade for the rest of the afternoon. The beach was too relentless with the sun and wind. We napped in the shade and did nothing. It was so great. It was here too that Craig and Amanda brought out champagne and announced they were leaving the island for Guyana in a month.

I people watched from the rocks at the stream. When we first arrived, there were several topless young women and we saw a few residents of the valley (though technically, no one is supposed to live there--it's a state park). And we saw a few tourist hikers as well and even talked to a few. I still can't fathom hiking the whole thing.

Later in the afternoon we were going to hike up to the Valley, but circumstances changed and we hiked to the end of the beach, bathed in the waterfall, and looked at the caves along the beach. We napped under the brush and ate ramen on the cookstove, and after the sand-blasting beach calmed down, we slept on the beach under the stars (which is less comfortable than one would think). It was a fabulous relaxing day. I was ready for the morning's paddle.