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.
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