Fresh Change
No we're not talking about the change we are constantly hearing from Hillary, Obama, and the rest. We're talking about getting away from the negative temps of the Colorado Plateau. We're talking about the old Corona commercials that said, "Change your latitude." We changed our latitude a little and our longitude a lot as we escaped on an excursion to paradise, the land of the rainbows.
Hawaii! More specifically, Kauai, the garden isle.
While there are plenty of resorts scattered throughout the Hawaiian Islands, we elected to camp and stay at hostels. The Kauai International Hostel proved to be a good fit for us our first night and the night after our backpacking trip. We were about the only Americans there, and it was fun listening to all of the different languages, mostly Europeans on holiday.
Our main objective was to backpack the Napali Coast via the 11 mile Kalalau trail. We envisioned it being a piece of cake since the trail is close to sea level and our lungs are used to 7000 feet plus, but the trail proved to be quite rugged and challenging. There were a lot of climbs and descents with the Pacific always in view. The first half was very muddy and slippery. Fortunately the last half was much drier where the trail narrows and you are greeted to near sheer 500 plus feet drops down to the surf. In the picture above you can see Bill working on the trail. He has lived near the trail for eight years doing trail maintenance. He does not work on the trail for any organization, it's just a calling or something like that. He reminded me of my ole' Bloomfield buddy Adam Oliphant who will never read this because he will never get on a computer.
There were several stream crossings, which claim at least two lives a year according to Napali natives. This is the Kalalau Valley stream where we met the mayor of Kalalau on our way out. He has lived in the valley at least 15 years. He and other Kalalau natives evade the rangers pretty well.
The Napali Coast is not overrated. It is ranked as a top ten backpacking destination in the world. The only drawback is the constant helicopter tours overhead during the day.
The destination at the end of the 11 miles is Kalalau Beach. You can reach it by hiking or by boat. The maximum number of days the permit allows is six, but we soon found out that many people stay for weeks, months, or go to live in the valley. We spent four days there. The first couple of days there were about 40 other campers, a third of which enjoy the beach in the buff. In fact when we came to the end of the trail there were a couple of nude Europeans there to greet us. At first it is kinda shocking, but after a day or two you just roll with it.
There was a group of three guys camping next to us who proved to be wonderful neighbors. They packed in seven camp stove gas canisters only to find their stove did not fit. In exchange for using our camp stove , they treated us to Indian and Italian cuisine two nights. They also packed in 16 plastic bottles of wine. In the picture above, Juan and Denny share some of their blueberry pancakes with Ydine, another neighbor camper who is from the Big Island.
We camped next to a palm tree underneath the fluted, green cliffs. Our Jetboil stove proved up to the task, but it was almost confiscated at the Lihue airport.
A waterfall in the corner of the campground was the only source of freshwater. It was also a great natural shower.
One day we hiked up the Kalalau Valley and visited the Ginger Pool. We also met some more of the "old-timers" who explained the different landmarks such as Mango City, Hippie Highway, Outlaw Pools, and Big Pool. There were ripe oranges to eat, but the other fruit such as mangoes was not ready to eat yet.
After the backpacking trip, we headed to another part of Kauai and viewed Wameia Canyon, "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific".
Back on Oahu, we visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. This was a stirring experience.
We camped a couple of nights on Oahu's North Shore where we watched some pro surfers on 20 foot waves. I rented a board one day and tried it for three hours before I was wiped. It was one of the hardest physical challenges I have ever tried. I got worked over pretty good and only stood up for about 1.5 seconds a couple of times. I always thought baseball was the best sport. After living in the southwest I decided mountain biking and ice climbing were the top sports. Now it is clear to me that surfing is the best, most pure sport. Those guys and gals are amazing and have quite the life. It makes me wish I had skateboarded growing up. You hearing this, Watson?
After six nights of camping, two nights in a bug infested hostel, and one night at a local Lihue dive, Tracy was more than ready to check into a nice hotel our final night in Hawaii. As for me, yeah the bed was nice, but I missed falling asleep to the crashing breakers.
We returned to Tsaile and a foot of snow and negative temps.
ALOHA to all.
Hawaii! More specifically, Kauai, the garden isle.
While there are plenty of resorts scattered throughout the Hawaiian Islands, we elected to camp and stay at hostels. The Kauai International Hostel proved to be a good fit for us our first night and the night after our backpacking trip. We were about the only Americans there, and it was fun listening to all of the different languages, mostly Europeans on holiday.
Our main objective was to backpack the Napali Coast via the 11 mile Kalalau trail. We envisioned it being a piece of cake since the trail is close to sea level and our lungs are used to 7000 feet plus, but the trail proved to be quite rugged and challenging. There were a lot of climbs and descents with the Pacific always in view. The first half was very muddy and slippery. Fortunately the last half was much drier where the trail narrows and you are greeted to near sheer 500 plus feet drops down to the surf. In the picture above you can see Bill working on the trail. He has lived near the trail for eight years doing trail maintenance. He does not work on the trail for any organization, it's just a calling or something like that. He reminded me of my ole' Bloomfield buddy Adam Oliphant who will never read this because he will never get on a computer.
There were several stream crossings, which claim at least two lives a year according to Napali natives. This is the Kalalau Valley stream where we met the mayor of Kalalau on our way out. He has lived in the valley at least 15 years. He and other Kalalau natives evade the rangers pretty well.
The Napali Coast is not overrated. It is ranked as a top ten backpacking destination in the world. The only drawback is the constant helicopter tours overhead during the day.
The destination at the end of the 11 miles is Kalalau Beach. You can reach it by hiking or by boat. The maximum number of days the permit allows is six, but we soon found out that many people stay for weeks, months, or go to live in the valley. We spent four days there. The first couple of days there were about 40 other campers, a third of which enjoy the beach in the buff. In fact when we came to the end of the trail there were a couple of nude Europeans there to greet us. At first it is kinda shocking, but after a day or two you just roll with it.
There was a group of three guys camping next to us who proved to be wonderful neighbors. They packed in seven camp stove gas canisters only to find their stove did not fit. In exchange for using our camp stove , they treated us to Indian and Italian cuisine two nights. They also packed in 16 plastic bottles of wine. In the picture above, Juan and Denny share some of their blueberry pancakes with Ydine, another neighbor camper who is from the Big Island.
We camped next to a palm tree underneath the fluted, green cliffs. Our Jetboil stove proved up to the task, but it was almost confiscated at the Lihue airport.
A waterfall in the corner of the campground was the only source of freshwater. It was also a great natural shower.
One day we hiked up the Kalalau Valley and visited the Ginger Pool. We also met some more of the "old-timers" who explained the different landmarks such as Mango City, Hippie Highway, Outlaw Pools, and Big Pool. There were ripe oranges to eat, but the other fruit such as mangoes was not ready to eat yet.
After the backpacking trip, we headed to another part of Kauai and viewed Wameia Canyon, "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific".
Back on Oahu, we visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. This was a stirring experience.
We camped a couple of nights on Oahu's North Shore where we watched some pro surfers on 20 foot waves. I rented a board one day and tried it for three hours before I was wiped. It was one of the hardest physical challenges I have ever tried. I got worked over pretty good and only stood up for about 1.5 seconds a couple of times. I always thought baseball was the best sport. After living in the southwest I decided mountain biking and ice climbing were the top sports. Now it is clear to me that surfing is the best, most pure sport. Those guys and gals are amazing and have quite the life. It makes me wish I had skateboarded growing up. You hearing this, Watson?
After six nights of camping, two nights in a bug infested hostel, and one night at a local Lihue dive, Tracy was more than ready to check into a nice hotel our final night in Hawaii. As for me, yeah the bed was nice, but I missed falling asleep to the crashing breakers.We returned to Tsaile and a foot of snow and negative temps.
ALOHA to all.
posted by CHUSKA NATIVES at
9:37 AM
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