Kalalau Sunset Rainbow-A different view

Still one of the most stunning sights I have ever seen. Wish I had better talent to capture what it was really like.

Shower Time

Brian cleans off underneath a small water fall at the "Ginger Pool"

The Slide

Ben got the guts to go down this natural slide. It's as steep as it looks.

Big Pool

Here is another shot of Big Pool. There is a natural slide that connects the upper level of Big Pool to the pool you see here below. Some of us were a bit hesitant to go down this slide (Ben was not), instead most of us stared out at the scenery for what seemed an hour.

Some sites you'll see...

The image above is "big pool" which can be found at the far south end of Kalalau Valley. Ben and Jake are relaxing with some snacks after the hike up. There are many pools throughout the valley including Ginger pool...which is surrounded by wild ginger root, and The Outlaws are...which is made up of many pools and waterfalls. The valley is a massive crater and as you hike the trails you are usually surrounded in thick woods, when you catch a glimpse of the surrounding ridges it is very beautiful...as seen above.
This is the view entering Hanakoa Valley on the trial, this is a pretty standard type of scene for the second half of the trial (the goat half), which is not as lush as the first half (the pig half). I would suggest having your camera out while hiking...I know I missed many good shots along the way.
This is another image of the sunset rainbow we got to see on our last night on the beach...
While only a few are pictured here there were many people dancing and cheering, as one Kalalau regular noted it was one of his "top 5" sunsets ever....
Jake relaxing at our beach front camp site with a "Kalalau cocktail". We have started a tradition of naming drink mixtures on our favorite trails. The K.C. consists of juice from fresh picked limes, filtered waterfall water, raspberry iced tea, and 151.
Yeah...this one will be a little hard to reproduce in the Northwest.
Sea Caves at the West end of the Beach.
During the summer campers are known to sleep in these caves...it was a little nerve tingling being in them in winter. When large swells came up every once in a while it would create an illusion that you were cut off inside the cave. You can see the dark color of the Kauai Red dirt in this shot....it will be clinging to your shoes for a week after you return home.

Camp Sites...

There are many different environments to choose from when camping at Kalalau Beach. First off, I suggest bombing all of the way to the end of the trail in one day...while the 11 plus muddy, uneven, cliffed, and continually switch backing miles in can be rough, the only other legal camping option is Hanakoa Valley. The valley is about 6 miles from Ke'e, and is at first a welcome site when you arrive...but years of backpackers and hobos have left quite a bit of garbage and randomness in the valley area where camping is allowed. Good backpackers leave no trace, and bag up others garbage...which accumulates around this site in a couple piles...
Hanakoa is nicely shaded, surrounded by coffee plants and kukui nut trees, with a very pretty river running down the middle of the sites...so it is nice, if you want to be cool and they've loaded out the garbage recently...I'm not trying to speak badly of the site...but trust me, you will be happier when you reach Kalalau and realize how worth it the last 5 miles had been.

When you reach Kalalau there are many...many.... environments to choose from for a site. The beach itself is over a mile long with many nice niches, and there is a shallow forest running its entire length below the ridges behind. The Valley itself is over 3 miles deep with large streams and pools, and there is a very large shaded are by the waterfall at the west end of the beach.

We chose to get up close with the ocean, with the wind being the only draw back to this site...but the trusty Kelty Noah's tarp held up like a champ. A little guy line, and some trekking poles (highly recommended for this trail) and it was sturdy for 3 days. Two weeks earlier we had used the same tarp at 1500' in Washington state...in the snow....it is a great shelter that seems to be working for all environments.

A morning shower?

This waterfall is located at the West end of Kalalau Beach, and is the best fresh water source on the beach unless you are camping back toward the main valley....be sure to purify or chemically treat the water if you are drinking it...leptospirosis would make the rugged hike back to Ke'e a little difficult. Oh...this is also where you would take your morning shower, it is located in a little gully, and fairly private...beats a shower stall anyday in my opinion. The aloe that grows here is great for sunburns, it pours out when you break a blade off...watch out for massive frog orgies at night here...it is quite a sight.

The picture below shows a view looking back up from the beach, the shower falls can be seen on the right...

Beautiful Rainbow

Sunset at Kalalau

What a beautiful trip. Stay tuned for more photos. Currently in the Virgin Islands on another exploration.


Jake