Going all the way - Kalalau Valley

I am only about 2 miles in from the 11 mile hike to Kalalau Valley to collect spiders. I drank 3 liters of water this day and it was the hardest hike I have every done in my life. It is an 11 mile hike but you go from sea level to about 1000 feet and then back down again 3-4 times. It is estimated that in addition to the 11 miles, you climb about 5000 Ft in total.

One of the funny things about this trail is that for most of the time you never can see the trail on the hillside across the valleys you pass through. The trail is so thin, at most being 24 inches wide but generally 12-18 inches wide and it is obscured by vegetation or rocks. This was one of the rare views where you can see ahead of you the razor thin trail as well as the price you would pay if you had a misstep.

My first view of the rugged terrain of Kalalau valley. The knife edges of this part of Kauai are surreal. Behind those cliffs is Kokee swamp where we camped a couple of months ago (see April 18 posting).

Finally the beach at Kalalau....11 miles of very rugged hiking. It took me just over 7 hours of hiking to get here. The funny thing was that once I got to the beach and dropped my backpack, I could not stop walking. I walked up and down that huge beach two times, my legs were on autopilot...I was exhausted but found myself just walking.

These razor sharp cliffs create a basin that supplies the water to the waterfall on the bottom right. Even though leptospirosis is known to be in the streams of Hawaii, the word in the valley is that this waterfall is safe to drink from so I risked it and drank directly from the waterfall. It was nice to get away from the taste of iodine in my treated water (so far no fever). The landscape looks like some cheesy fantasy landscape I drew in high school, I half expected to see a dragon fly over the mountain top.

At sunset I was memorized by the way the light would shine through the waves as they crashed on shore. The beach faces west so the sunset is spectacular looking either towards the ocean or behind you looking at the eroded cliffs of Nakeikionaiwi (the photo before).


oh...I collect a lot of spiders, but not D. raptor. I am beginning to feel like Ahab...