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Hiking on Kauai's Na Pali CoastKatherine Hathaway
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It
was one of those whims airline employees are subject to-have ticket,
must travel.
My friend Jack Raymond had a
system-wide First Class Continental ticket for two that had to be used
by the end of December, and it was already
Thanksgiving. Just a week later, I had sacrificed my knee to
an unknown Hawaiian god on the Na Pali coast.
 At
the bottom of a gorge overlooking the spectacular uninhabited coastline
of Kauai, the torn meniscus almost seemed worth it, until I had to turn
around and crawl up a mile and one half of Kauai's famous red
dirt. It could have been worse. It might have
rained and I would have been washed away like the traitor in Jurassic
Park. As it was, my hiking was transformed into hobbling,
which in Eden is not too shabby for a week's
vacation. Besides, I had the Na Pali coast
beckoning.
We left the Hotel Coral Reef
on the Eastern Shore in Kapaa early, in our thrifty tourmobile, fueled
by pink pastry-fat pills and jet lag, and headed to Waimea
Canyon. Eventually we navigated toward Highway 50, bypassing
Lihue, the economic center of Kauai. There are two roads to
the Canyon; we missed the first one and took the Kokee Road in Kekaha,
which offers a wonderful view of the coastline but little of the
Canyon, until we joined the main access road.
Mark Twain called Waimea
Canyon the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" when he was
there. It is ten miles long and a mile wide with about a
3,600-foot drop. (By comparison, the mainland counterpart
was formed 194 million years earlier.)
 We
stopped at Waimea Canyon Lookout and talked to the attendant who was
cleaning the restrooms. The two men took a smoke break and
swapped seasonal tourist demographics. Since we live
adjacent to an East Coast National Park, we know how skewed a tsunami
of tourists can make a place. Early December is a slow blip
for the island. The attendant gave us some tips for lunch
spots on our return, and we left him to make the short climb to the
look out. What a view! It was a veritable
geological spanokopeta. Each layer represented a different
eruption and subsequent lava flow.
Our next stop past the
15-mile mark was at the Kokee Museum and Lodge. The museum
offered a three-dimensional display of the canyon, as well as
exhibitions of flora and fauna found at the park and on the
island. I asked the attendant which hike she would recommend
for a short hike to the Na Pali coast. She recommended the
Awa-Awapuhi Trail as a moderate climb, and I looked around for a
suitable map.
"What's the best map you have
for hiking? I asked her. "Better yet, what is the best guide
book of Kauai?"
 "Undeniably
this one," she said, as she handed me The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook, by
Andrew Doughty and Harriett Friedman. It was the best
thirteen dollars I spent on the trip.
We stopped next door, bought
a cup of coffee and sandwich to go for the hike, and spent a few
minutes checking out the book. The foreword to the guide
promised us that we would "find the book as valuable as having a friend
living on the island." We were not disappointed with the
relationship.
Jack's lungs gave out as the
views of the coast started to seep through the thick banana passion
fruit vines bordering the trail. It was easy to see why they
call this island the 'The Garden Isle'. "I'll be back," I
told him. He countered with "I'll wait here," knowing full
well these lines had been uttered before, and could very well prove
untrue. My knee, secured in a brace, was screaming with the
unrelenting descent of the trail. I backtracked two times,
not sure the pain would be worth the view. Returning hikers
countered my fears, so I pushed on. The contrasts of cliff
and ocean, jungle and sand, epitomized the raw beauty of Nature in all
her glory. It was the stuff of awe.
After capturing the sights on
disc, I headed back, scooping Jack up just before the
trailhead.
 In
another life, I would have preferred to hike the coast along the
Kalalau Trail, eleven miles along the rugged coast. You need
a permit from the Division of State Parks in Lihue (Tel. 808-274-3444)
to complete it. It's a trail for the seasoned
hiker. The Ultimate Guidebook estimates about 5,000 feet of
climbing during the trip. The first two miles were
advertised as steep and treacherous.
"This does not bode well for hobblers," I complained.
Jack heaved a sigh of
relief. His idea of adventure is a thriller by John
Deaver. As a consolation, he promised to take me on a
helicopter ride our last day in town.
We pressed on by car to the
top of the Waimea canyon drive to Puu o Kila Lookout. The
view here is a spectacular panorama of the Kalalau Valley, which lies
nestled in the Na Pali coast, accessible only by trail or sea.
 In
the 1880's, Koolau the Leper fled to Kalalau when the authorities
refused to let his wife accompany him to Molokai. Other
lepers joined him and they repelled a police attack to expel them in
1893. Jack London wrote a short story of the account,
"Koolau the Leper." The valley remained inhabited until 1919
when it was abandoned.
We sat watching the clouds
rise over our ridge and then descend to the valley below, only to
dissipate before reaching the ground. I imagined the
mountain gods marching over the cliff to perform hara-kiri-or perhaps
to enter heaven!
The major eruptions that
formed Kauai six million years ago also created a caldera thirteen
miles in diameter. The floor of the caldera, composed of
layer upon layer of dense lava, cradles the Alakai swamp, which is the
wettest place in the USA, receiving hundreds of inches of rainfall a
year. The swamp's altitude of 4,000 feet protects the native
birds from disease-spreading mosquitoes, and the extreme climate
prohibits foreign vegetation from homesteading.
 In
1950, an attempt to build a road through the Alakai swamp
failed. You can still see large machinery mired in the
mud. Fortunately, hiking is easier now that a
boardwalk has been installed. Our guidebook said that many
consider the hike through Alakai swamp to be the highlight of their
stay in Kauai. It was one we had to forego.
Tired and sore, we headed
back to Kapaa, for sustenance and sleep. We ate at the
Kintaro Restaurant, which offered Japanese sushi delicacies as well as
warm hospitality. Our other breakfast/luncheon find was Café
Coco just across the street from Kintaro. While Coco was
under renovation to enlarge the kitchen, the food they managed in the
aisle with a convection oven was scrumptious. Salads were
fresh and finely dressed, and the baked tofu with mango chutney served
outside under an awning of blooming bougainvillea completed the perfect
brunch. Alas, the good coffee made the restroom, also under
renovation, a painful inconvenience.
 Our
following sojourns led us to beaches-many of them too dangerous to
swim. Hanalei Bay was my favorite. Scene to South
Pacific's "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair," I could
envision Mitzie Gaynor sashaying up the beach singing those famous
lyrics. We unrolled our beach mats and watched with
trepidation as surfers slid into the water to ride the waves 1,000 feet
from shore. The current didn't seem too strong, so I
ventured into the salty water and swam parallel to the shore, happy as
a harbor seal. There is something magical about warm salt
water if you live in the shadows of the Labrador Current!
Next we rented snorkeling
gear from Snorkel Bob's in Kapaa and headed to the nearby Lydgate State
Park beach, with a boulder-enclosed pool teaming with sea
life. For once in my life I could actually see the colorful
critters with my corrected lens mask from Snorkel Bob's-well worth the
extra three dollars a day. Another safe haven for weenie
swimmers is Poipu Beach Park, which offers a protected spot left of the
tombolo, which is a strip of land jutting into the ocean, joining two
pieces of land together.
 Remember,
the ocean always wins. Don't become too cocky-an average of
nine people drown each year! Rogue waves and strong currents
are deadly!
As we soon learned, it may be
raining in the north at Hanalei, but not in the east at Poipu
beach. It almost gives one a feeling of control over the
weather. The southeast is drier and the colors muted
brown. In the northeast, it is lush and
green. Like the weather, the island's menu of activities
serves any palate, whether mainstream sports like golf, tennis, and
swimming, or if you prefer, more exotic pastimes, like horseback
riding, surfing, or kayaking. The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook
has it all-where to go, the best deals, and not-to-be-missed sights and
activities.
After a grueling summer of
overbooked flights and Air Traffic Control delays, our principal
vacation goal was to decompress and relax. After four days
of serious exploration, we lapsed into Hawaiian time and spent the
remaining time 'chillin' in the sun'.
 We'd
take the bike path behind the hotel parallel to the beach into town for
morning coffee, stroll back to sit on our postage stamp patio, and
watch the morning locals take their constitutional. I
finished the hardback novel I brought and donated it to the library at
the Coral Reef. Mostly I concentrated on my even tan lines
and napped. A local feline adopted us and greeted the day
with a jump on the bed. She was no stray, but a tourist slut
looking for handouts. Fortunately the pounding surf drowned
out the rogue roosters that proliferated after the hurricane of
1992. They have not been properly socialized and can't seem
to remember when to crow, so they do it all day nd all night.
We spent our last full day
nervously wondering whether our helicopter ride would be
possible. Enormous clouds shrouded the mountains to the
north, and there was little sun visible anywhere. Air Kauai
comes most recommended.
 They
are located next to the Federal Express office at Lihue
airport. We arrived early and watched as the helicopter
landed. KAT01Unfortunately, the front had pushed in and
there was no way the pilot could fly VFR (visual flight
rules). We rescheduled for a later time and were rewarded
with a front berth in the A-Star, which had specially crafted doors of
clear Plexiglas for greater visibility. The Bose headphones
were a real plus, too, with noise-canceling properties and piped-in
stereo music. Six of us ventured forth and passed over more
waterfalls than I could count. Some were 2,000 feet
long. The rain had boosted the flow so many were cascading
forever into the valley. I felt as though I was a fly on the
wall, witnessing the creation of Eden. Jurassic Park also
filmed these falls in the opening shots. We kept trying to
press northward to the Na Pali coast, but the weather gods would not
cooperate.
 While disappointed, I chose to see this as a divine message to return to Kauai.
We returned to The Coral Reef
Hotel and checked out. While the 28-room motel doesn't come
particularly recommended, I think it's a steal for a shorefront room at
less than 90 dollars a night. Though sparse on amenities,
the desk folk were helpful and accommodating. It was clean
and ideally located, and I would go back in a heartbeat, especially if
money is tight. And money is tight now since I am saving to
return with mended knee and hike the Kalalua trail along the Na Pali
coast.
Aloha! |
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Date Submitted:
2004-01-02 00:00:00 |
Copyright Information:
Copyright © Katherine Hathaway, 2001 |
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