Backpacking the Kalalau Trail may have been one of the most mentally and physically challenging things I have ever done. This is for one main reason: I was sick.

Had I realized I was getting sick the day before I started the hike, I may have considered canceling it. I woke up tired and congested, but attributed it to a night of poor sleep and allergies. By midday, I had started to feel sick and lethargic. I was slow and we barely made it to the Hanakoa campsite by sundown. By the time we set up camp, I had a very sore throat, I was shivering with a fever, and my entire body hurt like hell. I wanted nothing more than to be home and I was sure I would have to turn back the following morning. Thinking back on how awful I felt, I am proud of myself for not giving up because I would have missed out on telling the story of the most epic adventure of my life.

I am splitting this hike narration into two. This post ends with a video of my hike on the Crawler’s Ledge. In my second post, I talk about remainder of the hike to Kalalau beach and the hike back. I also made a list of things I think I did right and things I did wrong. Hopefully, they’ll help you if you ever hike this trail. For a map and some very useful information about the trail, I highly recommend visiting this website.

Trailhead to Hanakapi’ai Beach

We started off really late on our first day. We knew we wouldn’t find parking at the Ke’e Beach, where the trailhead lies, as we had scouted the area the day before. I also read about enough car thefts that I was not ready to leave my rental there. The best advice I got was to leave the car at Ha’ena Beach Park. Since the campsites are so close to the parking area, it is safe to leave your car there. My husband dropped me off at the trailhead with all of our gear and went to park the car there. Usually, hitching rides is easy around here, but he claims he tried without luck so he ended up walking the whole way back. By the time we got on the trail, it was after 12 p.m. and we were starting to doubt that we would make it to the Kalalau beach that day, but if we did 2 miles/hour, we could still do it.

When you start the hike, immediately the trail goes upwards. There is no warm up here, folks. It is a work out from the minute you start. You climb about 600-700 feet in a little over a mile (and you do that a few more times during the hike). The first 2 miles of the trail are wide, well maintained and well marked. This is because the 4 mile round trip to Hanakapi’ai Beach and back is a very popular day hike. There are a few overlooks along the way offering beautiful vistas. You get a good perspective of how much elevation you have gained in a short distance.

You can also take a 2 mile side trail to Hanakapi’ai Falls from the beach. Past the 2 miles, the markers are hard to find. They are painted and engraved into rocks but we missed most of them on the hike in, because of their placement. Do yourself a favor and get a topographical map so you can figure out where you are and pace yourself accordingly. My pedometer stopped being helpful after a while. You go up and down so much that your stride varies a lot and eventually the distance your pedometer calculates based on your step count becomes much greater than the actual distance of the trail that you’ve covered.

Hanakapi’ai Beach is not safe for swimming. Despite the rip currents and the warning signs plastered everywhere, you will see the occasional idiot in the water. It only took me one look at the waves to understand and respect the seriousness of the signs. I planned our entire trip to Hawaii around this hike. Mid October is the latest you can do this hike with any chance of weather predictability. In the winter season, the water levels in the Hanakapi’ai Stream rise and fall unpredictably and often dangerously.

Of course, if it had to happen, it happened during my hike. The tame stream I had rock-hopped on my way in, was a mighty river upon my return, two mornings later (more on that, later). Don’t be dumb. When in doubt, wait it out. People have been washed away into the ocean here before. It’s a good place to sit on the rocks, enjoy the ocean breeze and eat lunch.

Camping at Hanakoa

Past the Hanakapi’ai Beach, the trail becomes narrower and narrower, making it difficult to walk through the bushes growing on either side. The first 6 miles of this trail carry you through a tropical rainforest. It had rained a lot the day before so we were hopping through mini mud pools on our way. A few hikers were envious of our trekking poles. They were certainly helpful in the uphill and downhill slippery maneuvers.

With trees on both sides, there is often no wind until you get to a switchback or climb out of the valley. The weight of my boots and the 30-pound pack on my back were killing me; but I was very thankful for the lightweight hiking pants I was wearing. The bug repellent wipes I had rubbed all over my arms and legs were no match against the sheer number of mosquitoes. My arms were covered in bites later but the pants protected my legs.

My legs barely carried me to Hanakoa. It was 5 pm and already getting dark under the thick canopy of trees. There was no way we were going anywhere else. This was a very questionable looking campsite with a permanent hobo shelter set up. The pit toilet had warnings/threats written all over it, telling you that the permanent (hobo) residents are watching you and they will find you (and do questionable things to you) if you leave your trash lying around.

There was a picnic area close to the toilet, where a cat was munching over some leftovers. We were the only people here and the shelter was empty. I was sure the shelter resident would kill us in our sleep. Surely this threatening individual was hiding somewhere in the trees, watching us. So here I was, sleeping in a humid tropical forest, shivering with a fever, clutching a knife and flashlight all night long, and a possible psychopath was hiding in the dark.

I am a reasonably logical person but I have no idea why I was so paranoid that night; I just didn’t feel safe. The nightmares weren’t helping either. I was awoken a million times by every falling leaf, every raindrop, and every little noise the forest made. I was hot and cold all at the same time. Imagine my anger when we crossed the stream the next morning to find the main campsite, with at least four jolly groups of people camping there.

So if you take away nothing else from this post, here are two very important things:

1. Leave super early on your first day so you can avoid the Hanakoa campsite. Trust me Kalalau Campsite is so much better.
2. If you find yourself in a situation where you must stop and camp mid-way, cross the Hanakoa stream and the campsites will be to your left after you walk 30 to 40 feet.

Hanakoa to Crawler’s Ledge

The second day started early but I was still slow and very sick. Dear husband had taken at least five pounds off my back. Combined with the fitful night of sleep, this gave me enough energy and will power to convince myself that I could make it all the way. In 2009, Backpacker Magazine dubbed the Kalalau Trail as one of America’s 10 Most Dangerous Hikes. I think it’s exaggerated a little. It is strenuous, sure, but not really that dangerous. The real challenge starts at mile seven, where the trail is 1 or 2 feet wide in certain parts of this one-mile stretch. A section of the trail here is aptly dubbed the Crawler’s Ledge. An aerial picture of the trail from our helicopter tour is shown below. This gives you some perspective on the awesomeness of the whole experience.

The terrain changes drastically, trees vanish and greenery becomes less frequent to come across. You are now closer to the southern part of the Na’pali Coast and you’ll notice the same reddish soil that you do in Waimea Canyon. Being here is surreal. With the unhindered view of the ocean to my right, the 300-foot sheer cliff face separating me from its hungry waves and the fierce ocean wind in my face, I really felt happy for not turning back.

Being here made me feel so alive. It reminded me why I love traveling so much. Trekking poles are very helpful here, however, put at least one of them away towards the last part of the mile. It is so narrow that you will want to use your hand to balance yourself against the cliff and climb out. The trekking pole in my left hand was a real pain in this section.

Check out the video below. We were chatting quite a bit during some sections and were going slow so I’ve sped up the video. The last 20 feet of the Crawler’s Ledge were the only time I felt nervous and you can see me slow down significantly here. The wind was strong and it kept throwing me off balance. I also made the mistake of looking down.

Read about the remainder of the hike in my second post, Backpacking the Kalalau Trail: Part 2!

Disclaimer: I hold no rights to the song in the video. It is called ‘Fortune Days’ by Glitch Mob.