The Kalalau Trail

Stephen and I just got back from our Hawaiian adventure, it was so amazing! We spend five days on Kauai and three on Oahu. The most memorable thing we did was hike the Kalalau trail so it gets its own post, once I feel that all of my many readers can appreciate this hike I'll post a few others from the trip.

This hike goes along the coast of Kauai, a portion that can only be accessed by boat or by foot (Why didn't we take a boat you may be asking? I was asking myself that same thing during parts of the hike). The trail begins at a beautiful beach and 11 miles later, ends at another beautiful beach inhabited by adventurous campers and hippies. We did the hike the first and second days that we were there.

Here we are at the beginning just thinking that we are so tough...

22 miles or not, you can't argue with this view.

We went right along the coast, in and out of all of these valleys.

We had a few streams to cross and we had to purify the water along the way so we'd have enough to drink.  Neither of us had ever done this since we aren't avid backpackers and we felt like the little boy on the movie "Up" when he gets to go to the bathroom in the wilderness for the first time, "I've always wanted to try this!"

The trail was pretty thin and get a little hairy at some points, good thing we aren't afraid of heights or cliffs.

We were SO excited when we finally got to the beach! This was the last bit of energy we had until the next morning, we crashed on the beach all afternoon and night.

This is my favorite picture, can you believe this camping spot? Yep, that is our tiny little tent down there in the sand.

These mountains were so stunning, it looks like something straight out of a postcard or a movie to me.

The next day was pretty long. I have done 10+ miles hikes before but this terrain was nothing we were used to and we both were blistered and sore. We made it in and out in eight hours each way with one night camping on the beach. 22 miles later we were really stiff and ready to relax for the rest of our trip.

We treated ourselves to some amazing burgers and pretty much whatever else we wanted for the rest of the time, we felt we had earned it. 

Once we were done I really wasn't sure the whole thing was worth it but after some relaxing on the beach and pampering I decided it was. I don't think I would do it again but for the amazing views I am so glad we experienced it.