I stole away for an afternoon on Kaua'i, Hawaii, to run/hike the 11-mile Kalalau Trail along the
Na Pali Coast this last week. Although the trail was quite technical (often too technical or overgrown to run), it was a worthy adventure!
The Kalalau Trail is at the northern point of Kaua'i, about an hours drive from Lihue Airport, literally at the end of the highway. It's a popular tourist destination, so best to hit it as soon as the sun comes up. You can day hike up to six miles into the 11-mile trail, but need a permit to go farther (not that anyone was checking). 80% of the tourist traffic stops at mile 2, and all the naked fun starts at mile 6, so I found eight miles and back to be plenty.
 |
| (Shot from the Na Pali Coast from the air, photo courtesy of Wikipedia) |
 |
| (The rugged coastline made for amazing views) |
 |
| (The trail was quite rocky in some sections) |
 |
| (There were a few runnable sections, like this one about 3 miles in) |
 |
| (Vegetation was thick!) |
 |
| (The 11-mile trail crossed over five valleys) |
 |
| (The beach at mile 2 had mysterious stone stacks everywhere) |
 |
| (This spear stood above the highest point on the trail) |
 |
| (The creeks were amazing!) |
 |
| (The Hanakapi'ai Falls well worth the extra mile) |
 |
| (I got no less than three invites to get naked and join the party...it's a big thing out here) |
 |
| (Hang on! It gets a little slick...) |
All in all, it turned out to be a whole day effort. Don't rely on your GPS - mine came up about 50% short. I didn't quite make it to the end of the trail (ran out of food and water), but would definitely do it again!
- SD
