Kalalau Trail Day 1, cont. :)

I was only able to fit the first two miles into my last post.  Whhiiiiich, means I'm wordy.  Sorry about that.  I'll try to wrap up Day 1 on the trail with this post.  :)

We relaxed at the beach on the rocks at Hanakapiai and watched others build cairns and get spooked by the wild cats (they looked like house cats and appeared to be well fed), and slather on sunscreen a few hours too late.  (That's one thing I did well on this trip - apply sunscreen).  After a few minutes and a few short conversations with people about where we were headed and how far it was we packed up and found the next part of the trail back behind a grove of trees.  And headed up.  And up.  And up.  Past a girl coming down in just her bikini, flip flops and a heavy pack.  And still up.  I didn't realize how much "down" we'd just done to get to Hanakapiai Beach until I had to climb it again on the other side of the valley.  That would be the story of our next 9 miles, honestly.  Roller coaster, my butt.  Now I remember why I don't really like roller coasters.  I make it sound like I hated it, and at times I did, but as with all great trails I fell right back in love with it once we were done for the day.  So let's get there...

There was simply a lot of hiking going on.  I can't even lie.  I am normally a 9 miler, and something about double digit day hikes always gets me (Don't worry Jason, I'll be cool with the 10 for Mt. Saint Helen's).  In between the ups and downs, the ocean views and the palm and flowers are the things that will define our hike.  The milestones (funny story for the Day 3 post - I missed almost every single mile post on the way out on the hike, and found almost all of them on the way back on Day 3.  Weird, but I have a theory...) and memories for me are:

Walking Off The Trail 
I literally walked off the trail three times over the next 9 miles.  Keep in mind that this trail was about 18 inches wide in most places, and almost always flanked on one side by a steep downhill tumble.  My right foot just apparently wanted to be placed a little too far right.  I don't even know how it kept happening. I would step left and then step right and do a nice one legged lunge as my right foot just slipped down the incline.  I always recovered well considering I had a pack on my back, but I guess that wasn't the point.  :)

The first time, Drew was right behind me.  I think he almost lost his lunch, and then he sort of yelled (more out of fear than anything else).  I think it was something like, "%$^*&, be careful!  I really don't feel like losing my wife today!"  Or maybe that was after the second time I did it.  The third time, I think he was around the corner already ahead of me and didn't see.  Probably a good thing. 

Hanakoa Valley
Our halfway point in the hike, Hanakoa Valley, was really beautiful.  We didn't get to hike back to the falls that give the valley it's name, but I can just imagine it.  We were having really wonderful weather (April is known to be the end of the rainy season and we were prepared for downpour) so the bugs were elsewhere, the shade was much needed, and I think my eyes got their fill of green to get me through a few Denver winters.

Mile 7
We continued through Hanakoa Valley, though we saw a number of people camping and lounging.  We wanted to end our day all the way out at Kalalau Beach.  We did talk to several hikers who split up the trail each way, and even considered doing so on the way back to the trailhead (depending on how we felt when we woke up the next morning at Kalalau).  A mile later we came to the dreaded Mile 7, where not much stands between you and a long drop to the ocean.  We'd been told that this was "not the place to be clumsy" and I can see why.  A trail sign noted "Hazardous Cliffs" and while it was definitely skinny, I think the most hazardous part was the gravelly trail.  It made it hard to get purchase when the trail tilted down off the side of the cliff.  I will forever thank the weather for giving us sun, though, as it would have been 10x worse in a typical rainy season drizzle/downpour.

Drew started down first, and turned a corner around a boulder.  I heard him talking with a fellow hiker headed the other way and then in a split second I was down on my knees on the trail, hanging on to a tree root growing out of the wall on my right.  Key word here being "on the trail."  I fell on the trail this time, and was hugging a tree root.  Geeze.  I shook my head, refused to look down at my knee since I already knew it was shredded, and picked myself up just in time to greet the oncoming hiker Drew had been talking to.  He took one look at me, smiled, and just said "You're doing awesome."  Maybe I looked like I needed a little confidence heading into the real cliffs a hundred yards ahead.

The Putting Green
At some point on the trail, maybe Mile 8, we were cresting a little uphill and Drew was trying to encourage me (uphill = my kryptonite).  I said something snarky like "I am by no means doing awesome so that "atta-girl" is way off the mark!" when a way-too-cheery hiker bopping along to his radio topped the uphill from the other side.  He definitely heard my remark (I think he was laughing at me) and told us that when we hit the top of the incline we'd see "The Putting Green" in the distance - a little patch of green field right before the drop onto Kalalau Beach.  And when we got to the top, it was right there.  And "right there" was still so far away.  We would chase that view for the next 3 miles before finally getting to the putting green, what we were told later was an ancient Hawaiian ritual ground.  I don't have pictures of the putting green, but Drew's got some GoPro action as soon as I can figure out how to upload it to the blog...