Kokee State Park and Waimea Canyon

Whoa baby what a day. Let’s start from the beginning…

Today began by waking up, scarfing some raison bran, and downing some delicious Hawaiian coffee. Kauai is known for its Kona coffee, a particularly delicious bean that my folks and I have been enjoying tremendously on our trip thus far. Anyway, coffee consumed, we set out for our day of high adventure in the Kauai countryside.

Our destination for the day was Kokee State Park located on the western side of the island just north of Waimea, the largest development on Kauai’s west side. The main attraction of the park is Waimea Canyon, a dramatic red-rock canyon commonly referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific that offers significant eye-candy to those that are lucky enough to visit the area and excellent hiking trails. We began the day formally by stopping for a warm-up hike on the small Iliau nature loop, a short little walk to a good vista that we figured would be great for getting the blood pumping. After finishing our short “leg appetizer,” we headed north in search of bigger game and more exciting trails, planning to stop at the Kokee Museum to procure maps and water for the days hikes. We made it to the Museum just as it was opening, the rosey hour of 9:45 AM, talked with the creepy lady that worked at the place, got a few maps and postcards, and set off for the trails.

Yesterday I convinced everybody to try doing a trail known as the Awaawapuhi trail, which forms a loop with the Nualolo trail of approximately 10 miles and offers unmatched views of various valley’s of Kauai’s Na Pali region (it’s a pretty small island and you can see a looooong way on it). The Awaawapuhi trail, from start to finish, was stated as being approximately 3.25 miles from top to bottom covering a decent of 1600 feet, something that sounded reasonable to me and like something we all should be capable of doing without a great deal of difficulty. Ha.

We started out our hike at right around 10:15 AM and proceeded down the declining trail at a good clip. Andrew and myself immediately began to distance ourselves from the folks, but we waited up occasionally and tried not to get too far ahead. Eventually though, Dad gave us the go ahead to not check our pace and go as fast as we wanted to, turning us loose to our own devices and releasing us from our miserly rate of progress. The two of us, Andrew and I, picked up walking sticks and began to make good progress, counting off the mile markers in quick succession and encountering very little difficulty along the trail. Right around the 2.25-mile marker, while stopping to enjoy a good view, the two of us were quite surprised to have our Dad appear behind us slightly winded (slightly). He had been running down the trail to let us know that he and Mother were turning back, concerned that the trail was becoming too steep and that they would find it too difficult to get back to the top. We thought that sounded like a smart decision and arranged a time that we would try to be back at the top by with the understanding that we really didn’t know what time we would be back, so they would have to be patient and wait for us to complete our hike.

Andrew and I finished the rest of the descent without much difficulty and proceeded to the vistas down a separate path at the end. The views into the valley below were simply breathtaking; sheer cliffs dropping away to valley floors with meandering rivers, all shrouded with thick vegetation and a haziness in the air that reflected the fact we were 3200 feet above sea level. Pictures from this view can be seen on my Flickr page, and I would highly encourage everybody to the check them out. Simply awesome.

On the way back up, Andrew and I made a small detour to see Nualolo Stream, but the stream was dry (its been really hot and dry here lately), so we turned around and began the long ascent to the top. It was a really difficult ascent with several sections that were very steep and difficult, especially for two guys that don’t do much hiking on an everyday basis. But, though things looked grim at times, we made it to the top unscathed, if a little thirsty, and grabbed lunch at Kokee Lodge. It was a decent little place, though the waitress wouldn’t bring us any water because the place had lead in its water pipes. Ah just the thing to hit the spot after 6.5 miles of hiking, a few heavy metals and a pork sandwich!

After lunch, we checked out a few more views along Waimea Canyon road and headed back down the road to Waimea. In Waimea, we turned down a small side street and found a pre-western Aqueduct constructed by the Menehunes, the legendary “little people” of Kauai. The duct still carries water to taro fields and has a plaque showing it has been a national treasure since 1929. Definitely one of those cool things not everybody gets to see and really adds to the experience.

Back at the resort, I wandered down to the office in search of some wireless internet and found the resorts provided network. After sending out a few emails and catching up on current events, I headed back to the room, ate dinner, and watched a couple episodes of Lost with the folks. Tomorrow we will be hiking the Na Pali coast, reputedly Hawaii’s best hiking trails. Super pumped for that. That’s about all for the time being, better get some rest if I’m going to do any hiking tomorrow. Aloha ladies and gents!