Kauai, HI

January 13, 2023 - January 16, 2023

After getting engaged in Honolulu, we headed out to Kauai. Upon landing and picking up our rental car (what a long process that was), we headed straight to the Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail, a 4-mile hike that promised to be an easy and beautiful walk along the coastline. The trail offered stunning views of the cliff sides through a sandy path, a walk along a golf course, and even ended at a cave, which unfortunately was closed when we got there. We even got to see a couple Nene, the Hawaiian state bird. Did we get lost? YES, but we eventually found our way back to the car before dark.

After our hike, we drove to a campsite called Kumu Camp, where we spent the next three nights. When we arrived, it was pitch black and the road was bumpy and very confusing. There were a few choice words, but we finally found our way to the Sunrise Yurt. The location was absolutely beautiful - right on the beach with waves crashing in the background. To be honest, the yurt itself could use some upgrades. It had a table with four chairs, a couch with stains, a twin bed, and a bunk bed (king on the bottom bunk and queen on the top). The only blanket provided was a top sheet (BAHAHAHA). There was a shared bathroom and shower that provided hot water and a “nice” bathroom space.

Look, we aren’t the bougiest of people. We have renovated houses while sleeping in the construction zone, camped, and generally don’t really care, but there were these little things like:

The Waves –

• At first, they were calming, like the sleep app portrays, but as the night went on, they were like your phone was on max volume and you couldn’t turn the volume down. They sounded like they were flooding the area around you!

The Door –

• It could only be locked by two tiny deadbolts, which I am pretty sure if you pushed just right, it would open. Additionally, the light from passing cars shone in as if someone with a flashlight was coming in. As an extra precaution, I took a chair and jammed it under the door knob – you know, just in case someone wandered into the wrong yurt, we would at least hear them. Then to lock it while you were gone - the camp did email us and tell us to bring a padlock.

The Temperature -

• Ok, again, not to sound bougie, but my goodness, we couldn’t regulate temperature in that yurt to save our lives. It would be 100 degrees during the day and then 40 degrees at night with only a top sheet - hahaha!

Anyway, Kumu camp was great – but we just didn’t set our expectations to be camping – which is totally fine – but goes to show you if you always set expectations low, you will always be pleasantly surprised.

That night, we started planning our next two days in Kauai. We originally planned to go to Waimea Canyon first, followed by the Kalalau Trail and the North side, but turns out you need to reserve tickets to get into Ha’ena State Park – which is where the entrance to the Kalalau Trail is located. We go online to look and it’s booked full for the next two days (our only days in Kauai). However, we find out that we can wake up at 5:00 AM and check to see if there are any openings based on cancellations. So, I wake my ass up at 5:00 AM, and sure enough, there is an opening at 6:30 AM - GREAT! I book it, and then I proceed to fall back asleep until 6:30 AM. I wake up in a bit of panic as now we have to ride standby on the bus into the park. I have to go to the bathroom immediately due to having held it in all night because I didn’t want to walk through wet sand and track it back into the bed. Anywho, we get to the shuttle and to our luck there were two standby seats left - no waiting around for us! As we board the bus, the woman working the shuttle did say “Jeez you guys are real late for your timeslot” - WHOOPS!

The Kalalau Trail was voted a top 10 hike by USA Today (in 2014) along with Everest Base Camp, Grand Canyon Rim to Rim, Inca Trail, etc. I’ve been trying to knock these hikes out while I am young and spry. Although we only did a part of the Kalalau Trail, we are going to need to come back and do the entire thing. When you sign up for the day pass at Ha'ena State Park, that gives you access to the first two miles of the Kalalau Trail – then you need to turn around and come back as any further requires a different permit reservation. If you had the permit to hike the entire Kalalau Trail – it would be a 22-mile round trip hike through a pretty rugged landscape and would most likely require you to camp on the beach at the turnaround spot.

The portion of the hike that Bridget and I did was beautiful and hilly. It wasn’t like you were ascending a mountain and going straight up, it was rolling hills up and down the mountain side with gorgeous views of the oceanside cliffs.

After the beautiful hike, we found a local watering hole that had the 49ers game on, as we are both HUGE Brock Purdy fans (as Bridget rolls her eyes). The bar was packed with 49er fans and a couple of Iowa State fans (my alma mater). We watched Brock Purdy dominate the Seahawks, and it was a great way to end an already fantastic day. After the game, we made our way back to the campsite where we showered and headed out to dinner. We had stopped at the closest town Kapa’a and ate food truck tacos and listened to live music before heading back to the yurt for the night.

In addition to the Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail and the Kalalau Trail, we also hiked into the Waimea Canyon, which Mark Twain called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. The Waimea Canyon is a massive canyon in the middle of Kauai, and it's definitely worth seeing. We went on a hike called the Canyon Trail to a waterfall. Overall, it was around 4 miles, and the trail was actually quite difficult, but it was worth it for the beautiful views of the canyon. The trail was steep and rocky in some parts, but the scenery was stunning. We hiked through lush vegetation, and the vibrant colors of the canyon walls were breathtaking.

The canyon was amazing and we would definitely do this hike again, but we were a little disappointed when we got to the waterfall as we kept reading about this 800-foot waterfall at the end of this hike. Correction, I thought there was an 800-foot waterfall at the end of the hike and told Bridget there was. The entire way down, we kept saying, "you would think we would hear the water from this massive 800-foot waterfall." In reality, it was a 10-foot waterfall that created a little pool that you could swim in if you wanted to. Bridget’s words when we get to the waterfall - “well this is a bit underwhelming”!

Overall, our trip to Kauai was an incredible experience filled with beautiful hikes, stunning views, and a bit of adventure. While the accommodations at Kumu Camp were not what we were expecting, it added to the overall experience and made for a great story to tell. We learned to always set expectations low and you’ll always be happily surprised.

On to Hilo we go!