Date Archives → November 21, 2013

Kauai and the Na Pali Coast: Wow! Crazy! Impossible!

Kauai and the Na Pali Coast: Wow! Crazy! Impossible!
To read my Kauai journal from the beginning, click here

Parking at Ha’ena State Park was a breeze, with none of the chaos and congestion (not to mention $35 parking ticket) we’d encountered last time we were here, when we went snorkeling. We parked right at the edge of Ke’e Beach, at the Kalalau Trailhead.

Scary-looking signs greeted us: “Danger! Falling Rocks!” “Warning! Stream Crossings!” “Alert! Narrow Trail!”

“Careful!”

“Look Out!”

We took a deep breath, bravely tightened our daypack straps, and started up the dangerous-sounding trail.

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Kauai: Superwoman Goes Kayaking

Kauai: Superwoman Goes Kayaking
To read my Kauai journal from the beginning, click here

The alarm clock rang, unwelcomingly, at 5:30 AM. When Martin cheerfully tried to roust me from bed, I groaned. I rolled over. I put the pillow over my head. Go away! Go kayak by yourself!

But he was patient and persistent, and once I was up, and showered, and eating a big hearty breakfast burrito outside on the lanai, lovingly prepared by my loving husband, watching the sun stream golden light through dark clouds onto the silvery lagoon below… well, that was okay.

All that weather over the Wailua River, though– the heavy clouds, apparent slashing rain, whipping wind– hmmm, not so inviting. Not what I hope for when I think, “Let’s go kayaking today!”

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Kauai: Way Down Deep. Actually, More Like: Beached.

Kauai: Way Down Deep. Actually, More Like: Beached.
To read my Kauai journal from the beginning, click here

We were nearing Tunnel’s Beach, and traffic was getting really congested. Cars were lining both sides of the road, parked illegally, according to both our guidebook and all the “No Parking Any Time” road signs. People with beach bags and swim suits were walking along the narrow road; cars going both directions squeezed in the constricted space between parked vehicles and pedestrians. We got worried. It was crowded; parking looked grim. At Ha’ena State Park, the end of the road, a sign declared “Road closed,” and we were turned around. Crews were doing clean-up work after the recent heavy rains. That’s why parking was such a nightmare: all the parking at the state beach was unavailable.

Thinking that maybe the cops (who were also inching along the clogged roadway) were turning a blind eye to the parking situation today because of the parking lot closure, we parked right under one of those ubiquitous “No Parking Any Time” signs, like everyone else.

We were wrong, like everyone else.

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