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Thread: Kauai and the Kalalau

  1. #1

    Kauai and the Kalalau

    Finally posted my impressions from our backpacking/camping trip to Kauai earlier this year.

    If there was ever a place that is easy to go to on a budget, and camp the whole time, I think Kauai is it. Tons of really good camping options all over the island. Biggest expense by far, was airline tickets, followed by rental car. Too bad airline tickets are so damned expensive. We were there 10 days total.

    Things I liked:
    1. It was Hawaii. Duh.
    2. It was warm
    3. Scenery was awesome.
    4. The ocean.

    Things I didn't like:
    1. It rained. A lot.
    2. Those damned Kauai roosters, keeping me up at night.
    3. The garbage all over the Kalalau.
    4. Helicopters. I really hate helicopters.

    More pictures here: http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/?p=190



    #1 - Lauren on the "exposed section."


    #2 - #5 Kalalau Beach








    #6 - Lauren again, on the trail at about mile 8.


    Kalalau Trail, Dec. '08
    It

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  3. #2
    We have been spoiled living here in Utah. I have found that the majority of people that complain about living in Utah are not the outdoors type.

    Sucks that you expectations were not met. It's always a bummer. Hawaiins are to busy hanging loose to worry about cleaning garbage. Mabey we could start a SUWA type organization over in Hawaii. Except we would actually do something, like cleaning up the garbage. Anyone want to donate to the fund?

    Great pictures as always!
    The man thong is wrong.

  4. #3
    Zions the "s" is silent trackrunner's Avatar
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    So I had to look into who manages this park. When you had mentioned park ranger I thought it was NPS. Shocked that the NPS would allow helicopters to buzz the place.

    Turns out it is a state park and access is limited to this area in the name of conservation. I guess it only applies to foot traffic. Wouldn

  5. #4
    Dan, your pictures are beautiful!

  6. #5

    Re: Kauai and the Kalalau

    So I normally hang out on http://www.nwhikers.net which is the PNW version of this site. But I signed up this when I did my Timp hike a few years back, and the Kauai post caught my eye in the Bogley updates....


    Quote Originally Posted by CarpeyBiggs
    Finally posted my impressions from our backpacking/camping trip to Kauai earlier this year.
    Great pics!


    Quote Originally Posted by CarpeyBiggs
    Things I liked:
    1. It was Hawaii. Duh.
    2. It was warm
    3. Scenery was awesome.
    4. The ocean.
    Couple more :

    5. It's America
    a) They speak English
    b) They take US $
    c) You don't need a passport
    6) It's close to the west coast

    Quote Originally Posted by CarpeyBiggs
    Things I didn't like:
    1. It rained. A lot.
    Try living in the PNW :)

    SNIP

    Quote Originally Posted by CarpeyBiggs
    We quickly continued on. A few hours later, and we reached the second river crossing, the Hanakoa. This may have been the most depressing place I have ever experienced while backpacking. Garbage was thrown everywhere, the place was muddy, buggy, and swampy, and genuinely trashed. There were even feral cats tearing through the garbage. Our permit called for us to camp there the first night. At $10 a night, there was no way I would sleep there. We kept on moving.
    That is really too bad, I camped here with a friend in 2005, sounds like its really really gone down hill. :(

    Also makes me not sad we didn't make it to the end as maybe it would have been nice than it is now. (he was way out of shape and ended up dry heaving from heat exhaustion on the trail and almost loosing a lung, which is why we stopped at Hanakoa).

    [quote=CarpeyBiggs]


    It is obvious there is little in the way of enforcement for the helicopter companies. I have no idea what the ceiling is they should be flying at (I

  7. #6
    I hope you don't judge the whole island of Kauai from your experiences. You really need to get back there...and pick a different time of the year to go... the wettest spot on earth is Mt. Waialeale with an annual average rainfall of 460", and some of the most beautiful hiking on the planet.

    http://165.248.241.70/Seward/Sada/Water/Waialeale.html

    The biggest mistake people make is to give up and not come back. I'm sure people judge Utah from just one experience as well...big mistake. Try to 'centrally locate' in the Kapaa area - cheaper yet a bit bohemian and still pretty. FIND A LOCAL who is willing to give out some secrets in the interior to hike to. I love to drive up Kuamo'o road(hwy580), stop at Opaekaa Falls for a quick break, and then head up the road as far as it will go....to a trailhead...and go hiking. It's the trailhead for the BlueHole hike to Waialeale.

    http://www.hawaii-guide.com/index.ph...lue_hole_hike/

    Another beautiful area to go hiking is Waimea Canyon....the KoKe'e State Park area has miles and miles of trails, actually reminiscent of southern utah parks. Very beautiful for miles and miles.
    http://www.hawaiiweb.com/Kauai/html/...ea_canyon.html
    I love Kauai almost as much as I love Maui....can't tell can you?
    Try it again and good luck!

  8. #7

    Re: Kauai and the Kalalau

    Quote Originally Posted by mbgriffi
    Couple more :

    5. It's America
    a) They speak English
    b) They take US $
    c) You don't need a passport
    6) It's close to the west coast

    Quote Originally Posted by CarpeyBiggs
    Things I didn't like:
    1. It rained. A lot.
    Try living in the PNW :)
    Thanks for the post MB. I've had a little bit of communication with folks from Hawaii after posting this on a few forums. In regards to the helicopters, they are required to stay 1500 feet above the trail and beach. It is quite obvious that the pilots don't care, and there is next to no enforcement. Apparently many of the locals are sick of it too.

    Ironically, I spent 11 days in the PNW in 2007, and I don't remember raining a single day, except up high in the Olympics. I gotta get back up there for more. Loved the Olympic Coast, and of course, the North Cascades are ridiculous...

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by greyhair biker
    I hope you don't judge the whole island of Kauai from your experiences. You really need to get back there...and pick a different time of the year to go... the wettest spot on earth is Mt. Waialeale with an annual average rainfall of 460", and some of the most beautiful hiking on the planet.

    http://165.248.241.70/Seward/Sada/Water/Waialeale.html

    The biggest mistake people make is to give up and not come back. I'm sure people judge Utah from just one experience as well...big mistake. Try to 'centrally locate' in the Kapaa area - cheaper yet a bit bohemian and still pretty. FIND A LOCAL who is willing to give out some secrets in the interior to hike to. I love to drive up Kuamo'o road(hwy580), stop at Opaekaa Falls for a quick break, and then head up the road as far as it will go....to a trailhead...and go hiking. It's the trailhead for the BlueHole hike to Waialeale.

    http://www.hawaii-guide.com/index.ph...lue_hole_hike/

    Another beautiful area to go hiking is Waimea Canyon....the KoKe'e State Park area has miles and miles of trails, actually reminiscent of southern utah parks. Very beautiful for miles and miles.
    http://www.hawaiiweb.com/Kauai/html/...ea_canyon.html
    I love Kauai almost as much as I love Maui....can't tell can you?
    Try it again and good luck!
    Yo GHB. We were there 10 days, only 5 on the Kalalau, so we spent some time exploring other parts of the island, including Waimea and Koke'e. We went in December for a reason though, because it is warm there. Why go to Hawaii in the summer? Way too many cool things to do right out the back door here.

    I tend to think Kauai in general was quite overrated. Especially considering the costs involved. But, like I said before, if there ever was a place that you could get by on the cheap (after you get there), it would be Kauai. Skip the hotels and just get campsites, and save some serious coin.

    Oh yeah, and before you board the plane back home, go the fanciest resort you can find and use their shower on the beach to get cleaned up. Might've been the highlight of the trip...

    Kauai photos are here: http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/?p=187

  10. #9
    My wife and I went to Kauai last May (2008) and I had a similar experience as you did. I thought Kauai was overcrowded, poorly managed, and overpriced and we were there during the off-season.

    We did the same as you and camped the whole time, although we didn't backpack the Na Pali coast. We did do some hikes and I agree, while the scenery is spectacular, everything else was not. The feral chickens were extremely annoying (and they were everywhere: remote jungles, beaches, middle of Lihue, along roads). There was trash everywhere. The "remote" Na Pali coast was anything but "remote" with helicopters, tour boats along the coast, and kayak touring groups passing by every few minutes. We did a hike to the beach on the north end of the Na Pali coast one evening and passed 50 groups (not individuals, but groups ranging in size from 2 to 20 people) as we were hiking in.

    We spent most of our time on the southern end of the island near Waimea Canyon. I took a surfing lesson there and was talking to the instructor about what changes have taken place, as he grew up on the island. He told me that the big resorts on the southern end of the island have sprung up only in the past five years (and it shows). The infrastructure is overwhelmed with the increase in tourist traffic and there is a constant traffic jam on the roads north and south of Lihue for about 30 miles in either direction.

    In my opinion, there were very few things on Kauai that seemed authentic. Befofe we left, everyone told us, "oh, you'll love Kauai!" An example of our difficulty to find authenticity, on our last night on the island, we were flying back to the mainland out of Lihue. We dropped off our bags at the airport and went to find a place to eat. My wife asked the tourism office where a great place to eat was and the tourism person replied, "Well, the Mariott is pretty good." My wife quickly realized that she didn't understand the question, so she then asked, "where would you eat"? The woman and a security guard standing nearby both chimed in with "The Barbecue Inn". Well, it took a while, but we found the place. From the outside, it looked like a hole in the wall, as it was behind a salvation army store. However, we went in and it was tastefully decorated and the food was the best we had on the trip.

    Other than eating at the Barbecue Inn, I wouldn't go back to Kauai. The Big Island is a whole nother story. In my opinion, it was the most authentic of the islands and was much more reasonably priced and not as crowded.

  11. #10
    Great photos! Thanks for sharing.

    Boy does this bring back memories! This was the second backpacking trip I took my wife from before we were married (1983).

    Hanakapiia was not trashed back then. Too bad.

    Is it still very clothing optional? I remember lots of naked people especially at the waterfall on the beach every morning waiting to take their shower.

    We also camped a year later on the Big Island at a state park over on the Kona side. Looking at a map I think it was Spencer Beach. The campsite bathroom was a cinder block building with no roof. But, this meant that it was always fresh smelling and bright and cheery. I remember taking a shower in the warm Hawaiian sun shine and having rainbows all around in the spray. Or, maybe it was the "Kona Gold"

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