Travel Logs
Facing Fear on Steep Cliff Edges – Sketchbook Diaries Backpacking the Napali Coast, Hawaii
Arizona-based artist Kristi Rauckis recently posted a very artistic video that she shot and edited of her experience along the Kalalau Trail. It was her and her new husband Eric's honeymoon trip. She wonderfully blends beautiful images of scenery along the trail with...
To Kalalau and Back in One Day – Trail Report
This report is intended to provide information and perspective for those who are considering an out-and-back day hike. As a calibration point, I am a very experienced mountain hiker with a couple hundred summits, including more than fifty 14,000-foot...
Beginner’s Honeymoon Trip Report
Basic info: I'm athletic in my late 20s, little to no hiking experience but lots of conditioning. My wife is mid 20s, little hiking experience, little to no conditioning (did an elliptical 3-4 times a week for 3-4 weeks for about 30 minutes a time). We went to Maui...
Kalalau Trip Report- June 2019
On June 17, 2019 the Kalalau Trail opened back up after being closed for 14-months. I immediately secured a permit, purchased a flight and was at the trail head the next day. Getting to the trail I arrived in Lihue around Noon on Tuesday. I knew ahead of time that...
Hiking the Kalalau Trail to Hanakapi’ai Beach and Falls
Hiking in Kauai, Hawaii on the Kalalau trail to Hanakapi’ai Beach then on to Hanakapi’ai Falls on the Napali Coast was an epic, unforgettable experience. Come along with us to see what the trail is like, enjoy the tropical beauty, the beach and the incredible...
Kalalau Trail Documentary
Dario Garcia made this documentary about his visit to the Kalalau Trail in 2015.
Most of the dousing occurs December through March, which creates a generally pessimistic aura on travel websites regarding outdoor recreation on this sopping Eden during the off-season. But as seasoned off-season travelers know, where there be weather, there be adventure. And what better place to find adventure than Jurassic Park?
Larry & Mitzi’s Trip Report
If you’ve not done the Kalalau Trail it should certainly be on your list; especially if you’re a fan of the outdoors and enjoy the awesome beauty of nature. If you’ve done the trail then you know just how magical it can be and how it can recharge the souls of us poor bastards who are cooped up in work environments most of the time.
Hiker Recalls Series of Miracles at Kalalau that Saved his Life
Will Schumacher will never forget the remarkable series of events that led to broken neck as well as his rescue. Will was on an annual church outing to Kalalau Beach on Friday, August 29, 2014 where he was jumping and playing in the waves.
Kalalau: 2 Day Coastal Hike Along Kauai’s Napali
https://kalalautrail.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/111.jpgOver Spring break, Ikaika and I decided to hike Hawaii’s best known trail: Kalalau. The trail is 11 miles long one way and ends at a famous camp spot. Originally planned as a 4 day and 3 night event, we ended up shortening it to 2 days and 1 night while still completing all of the 22 miles, camping at the beach, visiting one of the major waterfalls, and capturing the Milky Way along the way.
Peter’s Log (April 2009)
On Friday, April 26, my wife Patricia and I (and of course the kids) took an island hopper from Honolulu with our friend Eric Wong and his student Guo Jia (Tim) to Kauai. The he sight of us checking into an airport is amusing. We had four huge bags to check (two large Samsonite bags and two large duffel bags), four rather large carry-on bags, and two child car seats – two mountains of luggage and two kids in a double stroller.
Memoirs of The Kalalau Trail
https://kalalautrail.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/napali-coast-30.jpgThe Na Pali coast is located on the north coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The Pali or cliffs, are a magnificently rugged region of deep and narrow valleys ending abruptly at the sea. Waterfalls and whitewater streams sculpt these narrow valleys while the sea carves sheer cliffs. Stone walled terraces, one thousand years old, are in the valleys where early Polynesians once lived and cultivated taro (the Hawaiian equivalent of the potato)
Bill and Nancy traveled to Kauai with friends, Terry and Bev. One of the highlights of the trip was a 2-day hike on the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali Coast. Following is Nancy’s Journal of the hike.
Hiking the Na Pali Coast’s Kalalau Trail
http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-haleakala-national-park-na-pali-coast-state-park-makawao-honolulu-sidwcmdev_054188.htmlMy straw hat is flapping around my head like an entangled seagull, the gusting wind yanking the string it’s tied with right into the lump in my throat. My knees are weak, partly because of the long uphill climb behind me, and partly due to the gaping precipice in front of me. Four inches from my right foot, the crumbly terra-cotta trail opens to the wind, sun and gravity. Hundreds of feet below, the waves shred themselves against the sharp rocks, their booms taking several seconds to reach my throbbing eardrums.
Kalalau Hike
It began as two words typed into a web search engine: hiking and Kauai. I was planning a trip to Hawaii and wanted to visit the island of Kauai in spite of it’s claim to being home to the Wettest Place on Earth (a close second is Barry’s pants moments before we sit down to a high stakes cribbage match).
Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali Coast
The Sierra Club rates the Kalalau Trail as one of the most difficult trails. I did not know that when I applied for a permit six months before flying to Kauai. I had heard that it was the most spectacular overnight hike, with amazing views of rocky cliffs on the edge of the ocean and deep jungles with countless flowers. I found both descriptions to be true.
The Na Pali Coast on a Time Budget
We were lucky. Three of us, John, Eric and I, went to Kauai in February 93 on a work trip. All expenses paid. It sounded great and it was great. Three weeks on the garden island, but only a few days without working to see and experience all that Kauai has to offer.
Getting To Kalalau
At six a.m. on a dazzling Kauai morning, my husband and I stood impatiently in Captain Zodiac’s storefront in the one-horse town of Hanalei, hoping that the drop-off boat to Kalalau would run.
We were on our way to one of the most remote, and most beautiful, beaches in the Pacific. There are no roads to Kalalau. It’s smack in the middle of a thirty-mile run of vertical sea cliffs, and devilishly hard to get to. The average person has two choices.
