Once again there’s the roosters and birds waking me up.. I’m so going to miss these guys on Maui! Today we left for the Kalalau Trail hoping to make the waterfall but at least the beach. I say hoping because it’s rained and I know that makes a huge difference on that trail. We reached the parking lot a little before 8 and once we got all our stuff ready we hit the trail, but not before taking pictures at the trail head.
We met so many friendly people along the way, it was such fun and have I mentioned how stunningly beautiful ! I'm used to hiking in the Smokey Mountains so having all this tropical foliage on our trail was a delightful change of pace. I had been a little bit sorry we hadn’t made zodiac reservations or a chopper to see the cliffs, but this hike took care of that. And once I saw the zodiacs running on the water, I knew it would kill my back. Anyhow, The first lookout at .25 miles is a beautiful view of Ke’e Beach.
Those waves crashing never cease to amaze me. Each view just got better and better until the granddaddy of them all came into our sight meaning the view with the Napali Cliffs. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!!! I was just stunned. And it just kept getting better the closer we got. Sometimes, I feel like pinching myself so I know I'm not dreaming.
Finally we reached the sloshy muddy end and had to figure out a way to cross the stream. I ended up hiking up my skirt (so happy I wore a bathing suit) and inched my way onto each rock to work my way across the creek. Some took their shoes off and walked very carefully while my husband with his very very long legs( did I mention 6’ 8”) had no problems. So I walked a up the little hill and whoaaaaaa… a field of rocks and more rocks all around the beach. As I started to find a path to the beach, it started to pour so we all found a tree for shelter.
Scouring out the area from the safety of my tree, I notice the little rock sculptures all over the place.
Then across the beach I see a guy standing in the dry cave I’ve read about. Soon the rain stops and we make our way to the beach and cave avoiding the water since there are so many warning signs around about the dangerous currents. But wait a minute here comes a kid with a skim board who can’t read or doesn’t care. He made me so nervous. But that wasn’t much since soon a couple guys go out even further to ride the waves in and by the time we left there was at least a dozen people way out in the water. I’m not really a wimp but I do know this water is nothing to mess with.
Then took more pics in the cave.
I think there was a warning on this tree to not swim here...
What amazes me on this trail is the stunning beauty everywhere. I started out this hike with the beach being my goal, but immediately realized it was more about the journey. There's so many kinds of palm trees and huge pothos leaves clinging to trees. I wish I had an app on my phone to identify all of them, but most I recognize from home in Florida.
Time to leave and test out the waterfall trail. Yuk….big yuk. Between the muddy trail and all the trash around the restrooms that you wouldn't dare use, it was gross. No pic of that disgusting area... it's so far back here, I don't know how it ever gets cleaned up.
As we start out several couples are coming back saying it’s just too muddy to do it, but we plodded along carefully. As much as we both wanted to continue, we just couldn’t do so safely. I remember reading about the trail to Sacred Falls on Oahu collapsing so this made me nervous being so wet. Btw, I did hike to those falls in 1980 or 1982.
Anyhow, back to now.... I wonder how anyone ever does this trail since it rains so much how does it ever get dry enough? On the way back we did talk to many who’ve done it before and said it isn't always like this. Turning around then was the right thing. I really lolly gagged on the way back. I kept looking back at the views of the Napali Cliffs. Have I mentioned how much I love them. On the way back I snapped a picture of the beach with some people playing in the waves.. hoping that it was safe for them.
Reluctantly I kept walking back towards Ke'e Beach...not really wanting it to end. But we were so very hot and sweaty and the water looked so inviting that we grabbed our snorkel gear and hit the water to view a few pretty fish. Once I was out a ways in the water and stopped to look back, I noticed just how beautiful this setting is. Much prettier than the view from the beach. When I finished playing around the water I went back to the car for my cameras. I think the best vantage point is from out in the water. I finally figured out that I needed a really wide angle lens to capture the entire area. It’s such a majestic view. I'd love a painting from this view that I never could quite capture with my camera.
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| Ke'e Beach |
Back through Hanalei with a stop for a peak into the Wai’oli Hui’ia Church. I've never seen such gorgeous stained glass windows let alone in such a scenic setting. I loved how the side windows with stained glass open for ventilation.
I wish we had skipped our next stop at Tropical Taco. Yuk Yuk! Enough said. No not enough.. Yuk!!
Since there was still some daylight left after we showered, we decided to find the Lighthouse. Not surprised to find it closed, but that's ok, we could still see it.
We also wandered through the Kong Lung Marketplace, and I think we had something to eat here..
Back home at the condo, we met our neighbors with whom we share a lanai (with plants separating the two areas). We checked out each others spaces since they had a studio and we had a one bedroom. It was fun talking with them sharing our adventures. I thought maybe I could stay and just rent a studio but I like having more space even though we really don't cook much at all.
After putting the wine bottle away and fixing coffee for morning I hit the sack.
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