Napali Coast Adventure!

As we waited for our boat that would take us to our campsite for the night, a beautiful double rainbow appeared over Hanalei bay.

Our captain was running on Hawaiian time so we had plenty of time to enjoy the cool, misty morning. Soon the small zodiac arrived and four soaking wet bodies and their black trash bags unloaded and we took their place onboard. Dark brown and toothless, our Native Hawaiian tour guide and Captain popped open a Coors and we were on our way. I sat on a cooler and Scott on the side of the boat. The "super moon", a full moon 14% closer to the earth than usual, brought rough seas. We bounced along happily with water splashing in our faces. Thankfully, our guide had been driving his boat along the rugged Napali coast for 30 years so we were in good hands. We cruised by beautiful beaches, into sea caves and under waterfalls. We chased the rainbow we had first seen in Hanalei all the way to Kalalau.

Kayaks are the only marine craft permitted to land on Kalalau so our guide slowed and we jumped in the water and he threw our bags after us. The pounding surf dumped us on the mile long Kalalau Beach but not before ripping the camera from its tether on Scott's leg. Tanned, swim suit clad bell hops ran into the breaking waves to haul our luggage in from the ocean.

After a useless search for the camera we surveyed the area for a suitable campsite. We had a lovely choice of accommodations. After checking out the beautiful jungle campsites we decided that the ocean view was too lovely to pass up. We set up our tent on the edge of a large, dry sea cave, hung our clothes out to dry and sat down for a sandwich.

Afternoon on Kalalau Beach brought a nap, a hike up into the Kalalau Valley for a bath and then another nap. While napping, some of the locals came to get a closer look at us. When I opened my eyes from my snooze, hermit crabs and red footed boobies had come in close to inspect the latest tour group.



Bath time



 The human locals were even more friendly and one was kind enough to warn us about the falling rocks and share his dinner of moi stew, he had caught the fish for the stew earlier that day. That evening our sea cave shelter protected us from the wind and the little bit of rain that gave us a beautiful rainbow over the towering spires of Kalalau. We watched the sunset and crawled into our tent early. The sound of the crashing waves and a camper's flute lulled us to sleep.



Where is my camera?



The next morning we were up early, we ate what food we could and donated the rest to those staying in camp. We had a long hike ahead of us and needed to lighten the load as much as possible. We topped off our water supply at the beach waterfall and we were off.

 The first few miles of our nearly 12 mile hike flew by. The morning air was cool, the trail was dry and our feet were still fresh.

Crawlers ledge was dry and since we've both hiked with plenty of exposure in the past (Angel's landing), the narrow path and steep drop off did not give us any pause. The trail zig zagged between beautiful vista ocean views, dense jungle greenery and stunning waterfalls as we passed a few hikers and numerous wild goats.

 Scott spotted a couple of fresh mangos along the trail and we took a short break to savor the sweet fruit. We made it all the way to the Hanokoa Campground in a little over two hours. The last three miles were the most difficult. We ran into a Kalalau Facebook friend who told us that it had been raining hard on the North end of the trail making the path wet and sloppy. Sure enough, the wet mud was slippery forcing us to carefully choose each step. Thank God for trekking poles or we would have both spend a fair amount of time wallowing in the mud (a favorite past-time of the jungle's wild boars). With my usual grace I managed to fall a few times but fortunately only my pride was damaged.

After 6 beautiful, exhausting hours we made it to the trail head at Ke'e beach. I spied a couple of guys who had been leapfrogging us on the trail and asked them if they'd mind giving us a ride back to our car which was hopefully still parked in Hanalei. They agreed and we piled our stinky, sweaty stuff into their car and were thankfully done with walking.

As Scott went to check us in at the Kauai Marriot Beach Resort I started organizing our bags and unloading the car. My muddy legs and horrific odor was drawing more than a few looks from the Marriott crowd.

After learning that I wasn't trying to steal the luggage cart and was actually checking in, the bell boy drove me in the golf cart to a "quicker" entrance to my hotel room. Meanwhile Scott ditched the rental car. Before I could even finish scrubbing the red dirt from my toes, a bottle of Champagne was delivered to our room compliments of Marriott. Turns out they were congratulating us on our nuptials and not just thanking me for taking a shower.

Freshly scrubbed and completely famished we enjoyed a lovely dinner poolside. The fish was as fresh as the night before but this time we didn't have to do our own dishes in the "big sink" aka the ocean. It was the perfect ending to our honeymoon and the perfect beginning of our lives together as husband and wife.