Aloha beautiful Kauai! ~ Kalalau Trail & Hanakapi'ai Falls

So we began the 1st of our 10 days Thursday morning flying TUS-LAX-LIH on American Airlines (no complaints, we and our bags all arrived safe and sound) and settled into our gorgeous condo in Princeville after a trip to Costco ... here's a link, for anyone interested in renting it, check out both the indoor and outdoor photos...it's amazing!

http://www.vrbo.com/global/siteFrame.aspx?l=26097&k=1

Yesterday, we awoke to sunny skies and decided we were ready to tackle the Kalalau Trail... at least as far as we were allowed to go without permits... which was 2 miles in to Hanakapi'ai Beach...

The first half mile of the hike was steep... but every step was absolutely worth it and we were rewarded with spectacular views as well as humpback whale sightings all along the way! 

 The rest of the trail terrain alternated between steep and fairly level but pretty technical the whole way...  especially when it got muddy!

The weather held nicely until we reached the beach where we were treated to a downpour while we ate our lunch under the canopy of tropical trees... the temperature was still quite pleasant and being the desert rats that we are, we didn't mind the rain one bit!

I also loved seeing the adorable little feral kitties that populated the beach... we wondered what they lived on until we saw a little rat farther along the trail that i wasn't quick enough to get a picture of...

 After our lunch we were energized enough to try our hand at getting to the falls, another 2 miles in... which was made even more fun (and challenging) by the slick mud from the rain...

 

 We crossed the river several times  (and nobody fell in! although i made a pretty good attempt at one point :) 

As we came into view of the falls, the music from Jurassic Park totally started playing in my head, even though it wasn't the same falls from the movie...

 

We thought our helicopter pilot friend James would appreciate a photo of the landing spot we came across :)

What we could see of the gorgeous beginnings of the Napali Coast was so breathtaking that I have absolutely resolved to come back and hike the entire Kalalau trail... we passed some other hikers that were going and coming from the experience and it just motivated me even more... especially after a story from one guy on his way out who couldn't seem to remember how many days he'd been "out in the wild", the wild boar he'd run into that probably warranted a change of shorts for him :), the crazy hippies at the end of the trail, and the overabundance of wild fruit growing everywhere!

 

 We were exhausted but happy by the days end, and mom won the prize for most visible badge of honor from falling on her forearm.... (giant bruise, scrape and knot all at once! )