Kalalau Valley

While in my hammock i sat on the beach in the most beautiful spot on the most beautiful island of Hawaii. For the last week i have been camping at the end of an 11 mile hike in Kalalau Valley along the Na Pali coast of Kauai. The main road on the island almost makes it around the whole island, except on one end it goes to the top of a 4,000 ft cliff (where i have been and looked down to where i have been camping) and the other side the road just ends. That is where i started my 11 mile hike of ups and downs along the steep coast line and ended in the expansive Kalalau Valley. The Valley gets a handful of overnight hikers and week long backpackers like myself, but also has a steady community of runaways who have been living there for months or years. Hike out to get supplies and hike back in or just get a "boat drop" and have food delivered.

While in my hammock i set up camp and kept a fire going for 5 straight days. Finally i got to a place where i could relax after backpacking and hitchhiking and traveling for the last month. There are plenty of lilikoi (passion fruit) and orange trees and mangos if you can find them. I asked some people where i can find some fruit trees and they say just walk off the trail. So i walked off the main trail and into the valley. However, i kept running into camps (a collection of tarps creating a living space with fire pits and tents and hammocks) and othere small trails. I tried getting lost but i couldnt.

So im heading back out! I pushed my flight back another 10 days and im going back to explore the valley more. The farm i was supposed to go to on maui fell through because they were overbooked ): But with the farm not working out gives me more time on one of the most beautiful trails on the planet!

Island Hopping

While in my hammock on the Big Island and now Kauai i have seen the waxing moon a lot more than the waning moon. (Big island was relatively dry at the Volcano and southern most point of the US, but Kauai is one of the wettest places on earth) But now the sun has come out and the storm has passed and im heading out for the Na Pali Coast for backcountry camping for the last week of my island hopping traveling. Then heading back to Maui! Above is a picture from a guy that gave me a ride and emailed me this picture. The picture was taken right before i was heading down 1500 ft into Waimea Canyon (the grand canyon of the pacific) to camp by the river for the night. More pictures and blogging when i get back to Maui. Now its time to hit the trail...