Kauai, Hawaii - Kalalau Trail

Hanalei Beach

We had a shuttle booked to take us into Haena State Park, but got up to Princeville with some extra time so we stopped at Hanalei Beach to sit on the shore for awhile. Gorgeous!

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The shuttle dropped us off just inside Haena State Park and then we walked on the boardwalks the Kalalau Trailhead.

We’ve done this two mile portion of the trail before - when we came with all of our kids and the Richin Family… but this time the trail was SO MUDDY.

We really hiked pretty fast but having to watch where we stepped definitely slowed us down.

Love that the trail offers this beautiful view down the NaPali Coast.

Our first peek of Hanakāpī’Ai Beach.

We hiked down to the Hanakāpī’Ai River and then followed it out to the ocean. There were quite a few hikers resting by the stream and enjoying the beach.

We found a rock to leave our things, took our muddy shoes off and enjoyed walking down the beach.

Loved capturing all of those beautiful beach colors in this cave picture. Always worth carrying my camera.

Oh, and Chris does pushups everywhere we go.

Hiking back.

We were a little bit quicker on the way back. Maybe we were less concerned about getting muddy.

We climbed up out of the Hanakāpī’Ai River Valley and Chris quietly counted the number of people we passed, which made me laugh. I am not, by any means, a pro hiker, but Chris said, “I love hiking with you” and it made my day.

That beautiful turquoise lagoon is at the base of the trailhead and we headed straight for it as soon as we got close. So refreshing to get right in and swim for awhile. It’s protected from the waves so it’s like a big warm pool. After taking the shuttle back to our car we headed to the nearest Thai place we could find. It just sounded good… and then an ice cream place half way back to our place on the south side of the island. What a fun last day!