Kaua`i Day 5: How do you say "Na Pali" in Mainlandish?

June 6, 2006 "The Cliffs," that's what "Na Pali" means. And we hiked 'em.

We got up early to start our trek, but after getting ready and picking up our picnic sammiches from Mango Mama's, we weren't at the start of Kalalau Trail till around 10 a.m. The authors of our guidebook, Kauai Trailblazer, keep using words like "pesky" and "only for the experienced hiker" to describe the trails these rookie hikers have opted to blaze on these islands; but BP and KP insist this route leads to breathtaking views, so we're game.

The first of this trail is a steep climb over big, round rocks and continues to up and down, in and out for 2 miles, with plenty of those vistas along the path that our friends promised.

We were rewarded with a rest at a hikers-only beach at the close of our 2-hour, 2-mile hike into Kalalau. Sure, a round of Wave Submission would've been just what we needed to recharge for the next 2 miles to Hanakapiai Falls, but we heeded the sign warning us that Wave Submission had turned to Life Submission for lots of visitors. So we sat on the shore and enjoyed our organic sammiches. I was surprised to enjoy the shredded carrot and cucumber atop my TLTAS sammich; and Kelli was more surprised to cherish the organic PB (as you know she's a Jiff girl). As we scarfed, to the left, we noted a small cave we wanted to explore before rejoining the path.

We ducked under the low ceiling of the cave and, after crawling under an even lower ceiling, we were able to stand in almost utter darkness and silence. Cool indeed. We followed the light to our exit and found another beach, which we would've loved to enjoy longer; however, we were losing day and our packs were unattended on the other beach and our Aloha would've been challenged had we tarried so long that our belongings were taken.

But they were there. So we rinsed off our feet and Keens and made our way back to the path that leads to the Falls. Very different, not on the cliffs of the Pacific, but through the jungle whose cliffs plunged toward a rocky ravine. A very, very narrow path gave us about 1.5 feet to place our feet carefully. The overgrown path didn't help; to our right were scratchy branches and bushes which tangled the trekking poles.

We were about a quarter mile into this hike before we surveyed our time and water and energy, deciding to turn back toward the Grand Prix, air conditioning, cold water and the hot tub. Certainly was a good idea, because halfway back we ran out of water, were baking in the Hawaiian heat and were mocked by some naked native ("naked" includes being slipperless) who was running through the path.

Egads, 6 hours after we first set out, by the time we were through, we were spent like we've never been spent. A nice young kane sold us cold water when we reached the bottom. As we made our way to the car, another tourist surely broke something on his minivan in this root-ridden, chicken-infested, makeshift parking lot; I only mention it to share his so-fitting response to the loud bang we all heard, "It's a rental."

In our slow crawl back to the villas, we stopped at a local shave ice stand and took the Glasscocks' recommendation to try a shave ice with ice cream on the bottom...delic! (By the way, Ed, I also truly appreciate your Kauai Pie tip!)

Time in the hot tub and pool were therapeutic. Dinner at Beach House was the best meal we've had in Hawaii, I think.

My favorite day in Kauai!