Kayaks, Hikes, Waterfalls, more Hikes more Waterfalls

Tuesday we started with breakfast on the lanai, visited as usual by our resident escargot. He (or she) seems to make the rounds every morning and evening. Slow but steady.

We had a brief misty shower and were rewarded with a magnificent rainbow over the house.

From there we drove to the Wailua River, the only navigable river in Hawaii, to take the guided kayak tour to "Secret Falls", an anniversary gift from Kerry and Mark. Our guide Sean was from Molokai; from what we could see the guides are all ethnic Hawaiian. He was very good at explaining Hawaiian culture and traditions. We kayaked 2 miles up the river to the landing spot where we would hike to Secret Falls. As Kerry and Mark had advised us, the "secret" is apparently out. Sean had to tie all the kayaks to a rope across the river, the shore was too crowded with other kayaks, A traffic jam at Secret Falls!

Sean pointed out a Walking Tree. These trees put down roots in the direction of the nearest water supply and the roots behind atrophy. So slowly the tree moves forward toward the water. About 1 foot per year. (Makes our snail look like a speed demon.) Now we know what it is we see them everywhere.

We hiked the one mile and took a dip in the pool below the falls. Then back tot he river and a two mile paddle into the wind, back to the car.

Today, Wednesday, we headed out early to hike to Hanakapai Falls. We stopped in Hanalei to photograph a Royal Poinciana tree in Hanalei beach park. I noticed a bunch of people in red T shirts that said "FIRE". Firemen I guess. Look close under the left side of the tree.

After a couple of stops to pick up food and water we hit the Kapalau trail at Ke'e Beach, the end of the road in Kauai. We had done the two mile hike to Hanakapai Beach twice before but this was a challenge, 8 miles round trip on what was published as a strenuous trail.

The first two miles is up and down along the coast with a 600 foot altitude gain (and loss, you start at sea level and end there). As we neared the two mile point at Hanakapai Beach, we could see a bunch of people swimming in the same direction as we were hiking, accompanied by a couple of people on surfboards and a Zodiac boat. Sure enough they were wearing red T shirts that said "FIRE". I guess it was a training exercise. They swam at least two miles in ocean waves, maybe more depending where they put into the water. I can't believe it was Hanalei, that would be like six miles. Regardless, they are tough and in great shape. They got to the beach the same time we did.

We headed inland from the beach starting the next two miles up the valley. Past an old coffee mill, which is now just a few low stone walls and into the jungle. There were several large stands of bamboo. The trunks were about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. As the wind blows through them there is a lot of creaking and groaning, sounds like and old wooden ship or a haunted house. It must be what grass looks like to an ant.

We forded the stream at least three times and in the second mile of the valley got into several instances of scrambling over rocks to continue on the trail. There are also several wet slippery sloped sections that had to be negotiated very carefully. I'm glad we had our hiking sticks.

The end of the trail put us at the base of the 100 foot plus Hanakapai falls. Worth the trip. We swam in the pool at the bottom and had lunch on the rocks.

The smaller picture on the right shows Jim up under the falls to get the size in perspective, they are big.

Then we headed back down. On the way Jim jumped into one of the smaller pools on the stream, swam in the fresh water pool at the beach and finally took a dip in the ocean at Ke'e beach when we finally got back to the parking lot. The trip is listed as 8 miles round trip, the GPS said 12, but the valley is so deep that satellite coverage was spotty. It was useless most of the way back. We were gone for over 9 hours.

On the way back to the cottage we stopped at the overlook for one last look at the taro fields in the Hanalei Valley.