Hey everyone!

We just got back from a few nights along the Kalalau Trail in Nā Pali Coast State Park. Having never been out to the beach, and it being the rainy season, we decided to break up the hike by staying a night at Hanakoa before and after Kalalau Beach. We set off late morning and made our way to Hanakapi'ai Beach. It was the first of many beautiful viewpoints we would see along the trail.

We crossed the steam, grabbed lunch at the beach, and then started our climb further along the trail. Coming from AK, we were certainly out of our element. We had heavy boots and gear designed for backpacking in Alaska. There were many waterfalls along the trail, which meant it was a bog at times. Lots of slow going with the muddy trail.

The humidity was also pretty brutal. So when we had a spot along the trail with a breeze, we would take the opportunity to drop our packs and cool off. It's crazy how fast the weather changes with the cloud cover.

Eventually we made it to Hanakoa Campground and we were the only ones there. It was in terrible shape with lots of garbage strewn all over the place. The one nice thing about the campground is that there was a short hike up to the falls which was gorgeous. We took the opportunity to swim at the base of the 1,000 ft waterfall.

The following morning we set off early so we could have as much time as possible at Kalalau. The closer we got, the more the views opened up. 

Red Hill Overlook Kalalau Beach From Red Hill

We arrived in the early afternoon and set up camp. It was still pretty hot out, so we explored around in the forest looking for wildflowers and birds.

Francolin

Once things cooled off a bit, we explored around the beach and found a big cave on the east end of the beach.

After grabbing a "shower" in the beach waterfall, we grabbed naps before heading back out to the beach for sunset. We weren't sure if it was going to pop off or not, but it didn't disappoint. It was probably one of the most rewarding sunsets I've ever seen.

Kalalau Beach
Kalalau Beach Sunset

As much as we wanted to stay longer, we only had a permit for the one night. We probably could have poached, because there was an entire illegal commune of people living out there. I chatted with one of the folks and they were nice enough. So we made our way back to Hanakoa and the trailhead the following day. The trail dried up a little bit without any big rains which was nice. 

Trip Notes: We probably hiked around 22 miles with 8,600' of elevation gain. The trail goes up and down, a LOT. It doesn't seem like the elevation should be that much, but it's sneaky. It's a tough trail and breaking it up was a good idea for us. Many people can go light and fast, but with the mud that was also very unlikely. If we were to do this trip again, I would just add another night at Kalalau to have a full layover day. Overall awesome time!