The ultimate in hiking...the Kalalau Trail on Kauai's North Shore

I have hiked the Kalalau Trail eleven times now (the last being November 2005) and hope to do it many more. The beauty, the isolation, the physical challenge, and the friends met along the way make this a very special experience that has a lasting effect on most who have done it. It is not a hike to be taken lightly and thorough preparation is required. The reward is a sampling of paradise, always exhilarating, always too short, always with an abundance of fresh oranges, bananas, guava, and Java plums waiting for you.

Rumor has it that if you leave your car overnight at Kee Beach where the road ends and the trail begins, it will be broken into. How frequent is this? I don't know. But most people suggest you arrange for some sort of transportation which does not require you to leave your car at the trailhead. Another approach is to leave nothing in your can and then leave the doors unlocked while you are gone.  Just don't park under any of those Java Plum trees or you'll be very sorry when you return.

The hike itself is a wilderness experience and you must take everything with you that you will need with the exception of water and fruit which is available in abundance along the way. However, the water may be contaminated by bacteria and needs to be treated or filtered. A good backpack and shoes are recommended. The 11 miles is mostly up and down the ridges and valleys which is very strenuous. People do it in sneakers or even barefoot but I recommend quality hiking boots to provide ankle support and foot protection. The trail is overgrown with vegetation hiding rocks and boulders which make it easy to twist an ankle or stub a toe. If you carry a bed roll or sleeping pad on the exterior of your pack, orient it vertically rather than horizontally. You'll thank me when you reach a place the boat captains refer to as "Crawler's Ledge". It is here that you will want to hug the vertical wall as closely as possible because of the empty void on the other side of the ledge. For those who like to anticipate, it is located at about mile 7.

Weight is a critical item and I am always working with the opposing forces of light weight and food & creature comforts. All of my backpack items and weights for recent hikes are listed here. A light sleeping bag (my down ghost blanket is a great replacement) and a tent big enough to sit up in during the rainy days of December are very necessary. Such days are miserable when hunkered down in a shelter, chilly, and unable to sit up. After 3 days laying on my back in a bivy I remember thinking I would pay thousands of dollars to be air-lifted out (but on the 4th day when the sun came out I was so glad I was still there).  Minimize clothing and make other adjustments to offset the increased weight of these items. Make sure to save room for a bit of chocolate. Its a real treat and much appreciated by anyone you choose to share with.

The days are too short and the nights too long in December. Daybreak is at 6:30 AM and nightfall is at 6:30 PM. Twelve hours of darkness is a lot of sleeping time! The beach gets sunshine around 10 AM and is fully back in the shadows of the cliffs by 5:30 PM. You can get much earlier sunshine in the morning and a bit more in the evening by hiking back to the heiau adjacent to Kalalau stream. This beautiful area is a very quiet and peaceful place to hang out during the day.

This picture narrative is from my hikes in December 1996 through December 1998 (click the link near the top of this page for December 2000 pictures). Click on any thumbnail for a larger picture or click here to load all the larger pictures in a new window while you read this page (it takes 5-10 minutes). However, pictures cannot begin to capture the panoramic beauty seen with the human eye, the solitude of the wilderness, nor the many friendships developed as part of the experience.

Want larger pictures?  Click here to load them in a separate window while you read

(This web page was created when most of us used dial-up-internet which was very S-L-O-W to load pictures so their size had to be tiny).  Who remembers the sound of the "fast" version of dial-up "sssssssssssssss-kabong-kabong"?