Hawaii Trip - Hanakapiai Falls

One of my favourite ways to "relax" is a hike.  So our second day in Kauai we "relaxed" all day with a hike to Hanapapiai Falls.  It was a two mile hike from the start to Hanapaiai Beach, most of which was uphill along some gorgeous cliffs at the top end of the Na Pali Coast.  The water along the cliffs was a brilliant blue, but as soon as we crested over and got our first views of the beach I was in turquoise water heaven.  This was my happy place; green cliffs and bright clear turquoise water all contrasting with deep red dirt.  This is why we came to Kauai.

It had rained a little the night before, and parts of the trail were quite squishy.  Luckily we had our hiking poles with us and some shoes that didn't require a return trip home.  Even just the first two miles to the beach would have been tricky without both.  We had to cross a stream to get to the beach, and then spent awhile soaking in the scenery.  There were a few people around, but the difficulty of the hike keeps enough tourists away.

Finally we set on to the falls, another two mile hike uphill.  This part of the hike was all squish.  The trail was all mud and would have been impossible without poles.  We trudged our way through bamboo forests along a creek and finally arrived at Hanakapiai Falls.  The waterfall was tall and narrow with a nice pool at the base for a swim.  Phil splashed around for a bit to cool off from the humid hike and I relaxed and enjoyed the views.

Mindfull of having to catch the bus back out of the park, we headed back down the hill, up the other hill, and back down again.  Eight miles of up and down in mud made for not as relaxing a hike as I had imagined, and we were both exhausted by the end.  It was amazing scenery though and well worth the effort.  A dinner of poke on the way back hit the spot and we called it an early night.