Dramas of Kalalau by Terence James Moeller


finished 03.24.11

Over the years and my visits to Kauai, I have hiked the first two miles of the Kalalau trail twice (2004, 2007), and have always wondered what it would be like to hike all 11 miles. And wondered about the people who go in and camp, and the people that I heard lived in Kalalau Valley (illegally). Thanks to this book, I now have a good idea both about how the trail is and about the people in the valley. The book gives both detailed descriptions of the trail and tips for hiking it, as well as past and recent histories of the valley. There are also a lot of interesting short stories written by people who live in the valley or who have visited it. Also, in some stories I recognized a family name of one of Dallas’s relatives. He confirmed that they were one of the last Hawaiian families to legally live in Kalalau Valley, so the book was also interested from a family history aspect. Recommended to anyone who loves Kauai and has been on the Kalalau Trail.

Hiking the Kalalau Trail

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If you drive on the road til you can no longer drive any more, you’ll get to Ke’e beach. From there we hiked on the Kalalau Trail. I didn’t realize til just now that Kalalau Lookout is where we were the previous day and so if we would have kept hiking on the trail at Ke’e beach for a really long time, we’d be at the area we looked down on from the lookout. I think? We only hiked on the trail for 2 miles to Hanakapia’i Beach, which is all the farther you can go without a permit. I’d done this hike before and it kicked my butt. I fell down a few times, fell in the stream, fell in the river, almost lost a shoe and ruined my shorts with red clay. This time: I didn’t even fall once! Susan and Allison are my witnesses. It is a hard trail, but the views are magnificent.

When we were almost done coming down the trail, I was so hot and tired and hungry (why didn’t we eat anything all day!?!) that I didn’t know what I was dreaming of more: Jumping in the ocean or binging on the bag of tortilla chips that was in the car. We went to the car and changed as quickly as we could, took a dip in the water and then passed out on Ke’e Beach for an hour or so.

One thing – I had my camera set for the really dark lighting in the cave and never changed it. So, a lot of my photos from the hike are really blown out. Hopefully you don’t think these that I salvaged are to bad.

For more, this guy has a great diary of his adventures on the Kalalau Trail, going WAAAYYY past where we hiked to.

Kalalau Lookout, Waimea Canyon

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Dallas doesn’t enjoy being my subject

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John & Susan walking from the lookout

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Dallas & John walking on the foggy road

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So foggy

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I think I ran up this hill

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John, Susan & Dallas

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NASA Kokee Tracking Station

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The Nene is Hawaii’s State Bird

After driving up the canyon and stopping at various lookouts to take in the view, we parked at the end, at Kalalau Lookout, as far as the road would go. We could have gone farther, but the road was closed for construction.

It was really foggy up there so we couldn’t really see anything. Dallas said there’s only been a couple times in his life when he’s been to this spot and has actually seen much, although one of the times was when Killian was there visiting with him. Killian, that jerk! 🙂

After taking in the view, we walked up the road farther. It was closed but you could still walk on it. They weren’t doing construction on the road but on some things next to the road. Not sure what.. At one point when we were walking down the road, Susan turned to us and said “who wants to run!?” and we all just kind of looked at each other like “no way.” So she ran ahead while Dallas, John and I walked. But then I kept stopping to take photos so Dallas and John got way ahead of me and I had to run too.

What we were walking towards was the Pihea Trail head.

Hiking the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali Coast


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Sarah


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Muddy Shoes


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(Photos by Rachelle & Rob)

So after the long drive up the coast Sarah and I considered just chilling out at Ke’e Beach but I didn’t want to be intimidated by the 2-mile Kalalau Trail. I’ve hiked hard trails before and wanted to do it again. “What,” I asked Rob, “is in it for us if we do the hike?” Rob said Fabio was at the end of the trail waiting for Sarah and I and every time we got discouraged he reminded us .. Fabio! Finally, I was like “Rob, I don’t even like Fabio or find him attractive” and he said “Fabio is symbolic”. What actually was at the end was a secluded beach.

So on the hike was kind of hard. It had been raining earlier in the day and many parts of it were steep and muddy clay. I slipped and fell on my ass once and everyone laughed, including myself.. no big deal, yeh? So then there were a few streams running over the path. I was very careful .. stepping on stones, not into the water and then Sarah stopped me to take a photo standing on a rock in the stream in front of a waterfall. I lost my balance and stepped in the water.. no big deal.. now I have to hike with wet feet but whatever.

So then we were hiking down this slope and this chick walked by hiking the other way… and Rob looked at her in front of me.. and I looked at her.. and .. uh.. she didnt have a shirt on! What the hell!??!?! Nobody knew what to say and shortly after we all just bust out laughing and talking.. and Cousin kept making jokes.. Cousin is one funny mofo and let me tell you from experience.. belly laughs are no good on slippery, steep footing! So I slipped and instinctively grabbed this tree to avoid falling over the cliff… and from then on Cousin wasn’t allowed to talk or laugh.

Alright. So we pass all of the warning signs about not going into the rough tide at the secluded beach.. our last obsticle is a river with rapids. Sarah takes her shoes off runs across and is out of sight. Rob does the same but hangs out on the other side of the river to wait for Cousin and me. I give Cousin my camera to put in his ziplock back in his backpack, just in case, so it doesn’t get wet. Then I sit on a rock and take off my already wet socks and shoes. I take one step into the river and slip on a rock and dunk my shoes.. why did I even bother to take them off?!?! Rob is watching me and so is Cousin.. I’m trying to regain my balance and plan my next move. … I slip, fall, and drop everything, including one of my sneakers into the rapids. First thought: “I know how that girl lost her shirt!” Second thought: A vision of myself hiking 2 miles back up the trail with only one shoe on. Rob was the only one who sprung into action.. He chased my shoe down the rapids and managed to get it where it briefly was stuck on a rock. Thank god! With his help, I crossed the river and sat by the beach for a bit. My toes were all stubbed and my left knee was swollen pretty badly. Oh, and I had skinned the front of my leg at Queen’s Bath earlier in the day. And did I mention that a couple days previous I’d fallen in the shower and got a huge bruise on my inner right thigh? Lets just say that the 2-mile walk back up the trail wasn’t very fun and that the dip in the ocean I took afterward was the most refreshing swim I’ve ever taken in my life. That night I soaked in the hot tub with Gordon Biersch. We grilled out in the condo’s BBQ area and played dice afterwards.

I’m going to make a separate post that documents these injuries and the ones I accumulated in the following days.