Hiking -- Part 15

Na Pali Coast

The coastal roads on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, only go 3/4 of the way around the island.  This is the reason there are no roads in the northwest quarter of the coastline.  It's a series of valleys separated by steep, jagged cliffs, called the Na Pali Coast.

Trails follow the tops of some of the razorback ridges to great viewpoints.  Here's a nice view at the end of the Nualolo trail.

Many of the beaches on the Na Pali Coast can only be reached by boat.  This is Jay Christianson (left) and Daniel Holsinger by a waterfall at Honopu Beach.

Although there are no roads, there is a hiking trail that stretches halfway along the Na Pali Coast: the Kalalau Trail.  The trailhead is at Haena State Park where the cliffs abruptly begin.  11 miles later the trail ends at the Kalalau Valley.  In between, it goes up and down, crossing several valleys and the ridges between them.  I have only hiked the first 2 miles of the trail, reaching the first valley.

The hikers above are crossing Hanakoa Creek, a bit more than halfway along the trail.

Just after the Hanakoa Creek crossing, the trail ascends to its worst section, known as Crawler's Ledge, with a sheer drop of hundreds of feet.  The video above shows a hiker on Crawler's Ledge.  There's no way I would hike that!

If you make it past Crawler's Ledge, you eventually reach the end of the trail at the Kalalau Valley.  For years, this remote valley was inhabited by hippies fleeing civilization.  Every time authorities tried to round them up, they would disappear into the jungle.

Apparently some hippie-types still live there.  A 2018 magazine story showed Barca, above, who had been living in the valley for 8 months.  The valley was farmed by Polynesians in ancient times, and it has fruit trees that still produces food for the hippies.  “This is the closest that mankind has come to making Eden,” Barca says. “When the avos [avocados] are in season, we eat avos. When the mangoes are in season, we eat mangoes.”

And, like the original inhabitants of the garden of Eden, the hippies in the Kalalau Valley have no need for clothes.

Huf magazine recently ran a story "Hawaiian Escape" set in Kauai, featuring photos by Charlie Valentine of model DW Chase.  Most of the photo locations were not listed, but this photo must have been taken somewhere above the razorback ridges of the Na Pali Coast.

Another shot in the same location.

And a scenic view over the Pacific.

We end with DW Chase at the base of Wailua Falls  It's on the opposite side of the island, not on the Na Pali Coast, but it makes for a scenic photo.