Hike: Waimea/Koke'e loop

There are so many trails around Waimea Canyon and Kokeʻe one could spend weeks up here but if you just have one day this loop covers a lot of the different terrains and sights as a sampler.

Directions to the trail head: Take Highway 50 to Waimea, continue through town, and go right on 550; look for the West Kauai Visitor Center on the far side of the junction where you will turn. Or if you want to see Kekaha, the last town before the end of the road, continue on and turn right on 552. Both roads join up a few miles. Follow signs toward Waimea Canyon and Kokeʻe State Park.

The road gently winds upward - there is one sharp turn - climbing the western edge of Waimea Canyon. You can stop at one of the turnouts for a quick view or continue to one of the main lookouts with parking and the most impressive vistas. The photo at right is from the first major lookout.

Park at the Puu Hinahina lookout which is clearly signed turning right off the main road. The trail head is at the back of the parking lot (see photo at left). Just to be clear, following the path off the parking area donʻt take the gated path on the left, you want the trail next to that heading into the woods.

Follow the trail through the woods a short ways before it begins to descend into a small side valley that connects into Waimea Canyon, but you will not have to descend that far. Nonetheless, the trail does drop a few hundred feet through a few switchbacks with very rough stairs formed by short logs placed perpendicular to the trail. At the bottom vegetation is much richer and you pass by an irrigation ditch that was built to collect water for the sugar cane fields (now gone) in the lowlands. Photo at right is what the area looks like viewed from the far side and above.

Climb up the other side of the valley and the trail opens out onto a clearing where you have a number of options. 4WD vehicles can get down here from Halemanu Road but I donʻt recommend driving a rental car here. The loop I took returns here. Heading down canyon - to your right - you quickly come to a fork. For a side trip you can take the signed trail on the right that leads a short distance up and around to a lookout over the valley you just crossed. (I didnʻt take this today. It dead-ends, retrace back to the fork to continue on further.) Canyon Trail officially starts here (to the left of the fork), proceeding first through more light forest and then out into drier terrain. There you will see a sign for Black Pipe which is a relatively short trail looping back to that clearing you just were at; this is a good option if you have gotten this far and feel like not making a full day of it.

Continuing now in more open, dry terrain you start to get great views of the canyon. Here the trail proceeds down canyon right in the middle between two tributaries of the Waimea River that come together ahead of you. 

Slowly descending and further ahead you get a view all the way down to the ocean (it was a little hazy). In the foreground are what I am told are natural arch formations just left of center.

Be careful here as the trail fades and the hill just goes further and gets a little steeper and can be slippery with crumbled rock on the hard packed ground. Itʻs a long ways down in many places here.

From this open downhill sloping area the trail continues off to the left going into trees and descends a little more to the top of Waipoʻo Falls, actually just above the top of the big drop (when there is enough water) easily seen from the lookouts across the canyon. You canʻt see the falls from up here, or at least I wasn't up for going close enough to the edge, and I do not recommend trying (itʻs hundreds of feet straight down).

There are several branches off the trail leading to the stream, but to continue on Canyon Trail you want to go down to the lower part of the stream where itʻs usually easy to walk across on the rocks. As always, be careful around flowing water, rocks are slippery, flash floods happen, etc. and you are a long way from any road here.

If you take the first branch off the trail a little further up stream thereʻs a pretty little waterfall into a pool that makes a nice rest stop. However, even if you can get across, the trail does not continue from here; to go on go back to the main trail and cross lower down as mentioned above.

If you want to make a a shorter few miles hike, Waipoʻo Falls is a good point to turn around. If you crossed as per above the trail leads up and to the right. (Before learning where to cross I have gotten lost from this point, following a sketchy that petered out on my and required considerable back tracking.)

The next trail section leads through a couple of woodsy side valleys, climbing slowly up and finally curving left and out into more exposed dry terrain taking you up the ridge along which those arches mentioned earlier are. Donʻt try to head down to the arches, instead, take the trail onward leading away from them along the edge of the Poʻomau valley.

The trail follows the edge of the canyon and then ducks into the woods, down and up more side valleys, finally opening onto a grassy clearing accessible by another 4WD road.

Follow the road left (signage photo at right) back away from Poʻomau valley. Before long you will see (signed) Kumuwela Trail leading off to the left.



Kumuwela Trail is fairly narrow and at times overgrown but I had no trouble following it through the light woods, up and down a bit. This is classic Kokeʻe forest, set well back from the canyons. You will probably hear if not catch glimpse of many birds back here, especially if you stop and are quiet for a while after you get some distance from the roads (not that these roads see much traffic at all).

There is quite a lot of variety along this trail and at times the path is fairly overgrown.

At this point you are over halfway through the loop, at perhaps the extreme most distant point from the start.

This time of year quite a few flowers were in blossom. Having hike this previous in winter time though I can attest that there are plenty of flowers even then as well.

There was an unusual obstacle in the path - a large downed tree. I expect they will get in and cut this open but until then it isnʻt too hard to hop over the top, though that log is more than waist high at the lowest point.

The trail pops out onto another 4WD road.
Following the road you will come to a junction and see this sign: go right toward Kokeʻe-Halemanu Trail.

This is a tricky area: look for the two signs shown below.

Watch for the trail sign (photo above) just before the road bends left ahead of a private residence. If you miss it and go too far you will walk right up to the gate to Camp Slogget. Take the trail branching off to the right. Kokeʻe-Halemanu leads through more woods, similar to Kumuwela Trail.

Finally, Kokeʻe-Halemanu Trail descends and skirts the edge of a private home property coming out onto a 4WD road - go left. After a while the road passes a branch to Black Pipe already mentioned, and  take the second left a branch: this is the 4WD road first mentioned that you saw early in the hike. 

From there you are almost back: go right into woods leading down, by the ditch, and climb the trail back up to the parking area.

If you want to round out the day, you near to a wonder view point that overlooks Kalalau Valley, one of the most beautiful areas on the planet. Drive several more miles up the road into Kokeʻe, past the meadow, and stay on the road all the way to the end (thereʻs another Kalalau lookout along the way but I recommend the end of the road as best). Just a couple hundred feet a little up hill is all it takes to get some great views. I prefer the area just past the concrete viewing area, the terrain is easy here. Warning: the valley easily fogs up so best luck is going to be when it is sunny (I have gotten here and seen only white mist covering the entire area.) But the weather can change quickly here so if the view is blocked sometimes it will clear up surprisingly quickly.

Hala

Today I helped clean up under the hala in the Allerton Garden where there is a collection on the west side of the river, not far from the beach. Hala is the Hawaiian name for this plant (at right) also known as Pandanus, Pu hala, Screw Pine, a member of the Pandanaceae family. The collection includes a number of different species collected from various places around the world; actually the one pictured here is not the native hala but close enough. 

Hala is easy to spot by the distinctive pineapple-like fruit, round segmented branches, and the round support roots that spread out around the base. Long sword-shaped leaves spiral out around the ends of the branches, and those leaves wither and drop as the plant grows (something like how palm fronds drop off the growing trunk of the tree). Raking and hauling those fallen leaves was this morning's work.

Raking the leaves into big piles is fairly quick but it's loading them and hauling them to the dump that takes time. In the picture of the truck you can see a pile behind the read end of the truck about to be loaded. Those long leaves have rows of little teeth-like thorns along the edges near the base (on most varieties) that scratch you when you are grabbing them for loading. Since the leaves are tough and sinewy they take a lot of room piled in the truck and it takes several loads, tying a tarp on the top to keep everything in place.

I knew that you can't eat the fruit but learned today that the nodules of the fruit were used by native people as brushes. I found one on the ground - there were thousands of them - and peeling the outside skin away sure enough it looks exactly like a paint brush. And the base is surprisingly easy to hold and feels like it would be great to paint with.

Today the river that runs through the garden was noticeably high on the banks. On a break I walked down to the beach to see why. As the photo below shows, the mouth of the river was completely blocked by beach sand. And the river was going to have to go a little higher before it was going to spill over into the ocean. We have had a high surf advisory this week and waves and ocean surge must have pushed sand up the beach blocking the river mouth. (The area where we were cleaning up the hala would be on the left side of the river from the perspective of this shot - facing north, up river, from the Lawai-Kai beach - perhaps 200 yards behind the center of the footbridge.

I have probably worked twenty or thirty days in the Allerton and seen many parts of the garden, but each time I go I find something new it seems. Most of the work is on the east side of the river but today we were west side. I took a different road walking back from the beach and off to the side of the road was a little path I hadn't noticed before leading further west - another area to explore another day.

Driving in Kauaʻi

Many drivers here actually do practice aloha spirit and thatʻs exactly what I recommend you do here. In practice this means being considerate, not rushing, and of course no aggressive driving, but I will give a few examples that I think go well above and beyond, and other regions would be wise to learn from.

But before that a few warnings about the realities of driving here are in order.

1. Traffic around Lihue and Kapaʻa can be heavy at commute times and during the day.
2. Kapaʻa is perhaps the worst (it can take an hour to go a few miles), consider the alternate route.
3. During commute times from Kapaʻa/Wailua to Lihue they set out cones for contra-flow, switching to two lanes inbound temporarily to handle the traffic volume.
4. A few drivers seem to insist on going well below the speed limit (tailgating them doesn't help).
5. People occasionally stop on the road and engage in talk story: try to be patient.
6. Rarely a major accident can shut down a main road, and on an island that can easily lead to a you-can't-get-there-from-here situation. Get to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Meeting people at the airport I go early and hang out at Nawiliwili just a few minutes from the airport.

Drivers here are very good at spotting pedestrians at crossings and stopping. The unspoken assumption is that the tourist gawking at the sights don't tend to see them and stop.

If you do get stuck in slow-moving traffic, here is a nice tactic I have seen often. Look for a car stopped on a side street trying to turn left - if you are moving slowly anyway and the other direction is open for them, brake and make an opening for them to pull out. Itʻs easy to catch up to the car ahead and gives you something to look for, not to mention good karma.

Getting around on Kauaʻi

Most visitors to Kauaʻi will want to rent a car. Having done that a number of times, here is what advice I have from experience.

But first, some visitors may be fine without a car:

• if you are going to a resort and not venturing far away
• if you are camping in one spot (so long as you can manage to get there and back)
• if you have a friend on the island available to show you around

Kauaʻi Bus [link] is an option, but you should be aware of some limitations:

• the bus route runs mostly along the highway, from Hanalei (north) to Kekaha (west)
• routes originate out of Lihue, so it takes two buses to get from, say, Kapaʻa to Kalaheo
• there is an airport route that connects in Lihue to the main routes
• wait times can be long: buses run hourly much of the day, on weekends every-other-hour 
• there is no room for luggage: what you carry needs to fit on your own lap (if you show up with a big suitcase you will be refused to ride)
• check latest routes and schedules (link above): unfortunately, they do not support Google Transit

The major rental car agencies have offices at the Lihue airport with shuttles to take you to the nearby offices where the cars are. I have always had good luck getting a ride right away - it is not far to go at all. Rates can vary significantly so it pays to shop around. In terms of service I have found all of them to be about the same. They all seem to be understaffed and waiting several minutes in line seems to be par, sometimes longer.

What I do is reserve a low-end model car online in advance and then ask about upgrades when I show up at the counter. I have heard of shortages (2009) and it is not hard to imagine that on an island there is a limited supply so I suggest reserving ahead (though I imagine that is hardly a perfect guarantee of availability).

Every time the agent has been happy to look for a "great" deal for me and usually they find one. Renting for a longer time seems to help. One precaution: be sure you understand the total cost of the upgrade which they like to quote as the difference on top of your "base rate" and there are a lot of taxes and fees and surcharges on top of everything: check the estimated total before signing off.

If you are adventurous and want to save some money, there are low-cost local rentals such as Island Cars. I had good luck renting a pickup (authentic island local look, including the rust) from them but the selection of cars and condition is not the same: older cars, plenty of dents, "check engine" light on, you get the idea.

Resources:

• Hawaii driver's handbook
• Local gas locations and prices (if you are a member, Costco in Lihue is lowest price).
• Tip: on Thursdays the Hanama'ulu Shell takes 5 cents off, and they (every day) pump the gas for you.

Finally, please drive with "aloha spirit" here, seriously. People do drive a little differently here and it makes a difference. Take it easy, watch what the drivers do, and maybe have a more pleasant trip.

Kauaʻi by the Numbers

This island is a microcosm in many ways, small but not tiny. The following statistics are intended to convey a sense the actual scale of the island.

Kauaʻi is a county (the privately owned Niʻihau included) within the state of Hawaii. At the library I found a report that provides a lot of statistics that paint a clear if sometimes surprising picture of this place. Here are some excepts from the 2010 data in the report.

The island of Kauaʻi is 552.3 square miles, with 113 miles of coastline, the fourth largest island in the state. Niʻihau is 69.5 square miles with 90 miles of coastline, twenty miles away.

The population in 2010 census is 67,000, with on average nearly 20,000 visitors (tourists) on island. Nearly one millions visitors arrive per year

Of the resident population, haole (whites) are the dominant ethnic group at 32%, followed by Hawaiian/Polynesian at 20%, Filipino 19%, Japanese 18%, and others for the remaining 11%.

Just over 1% of the population here is homeless, excluding the so-called "hidden homeless" (living with family or friends).

Broadband Internet access (as of 2010) was 59% with 83% having home access. Access is lowest among the older (65 and older) and in the west (where I am staying now).

Electricity here is, I believe, the most expensive in the nation at over $0.40/kWh. The electricity I am consuming is generated at Port Allen by KIUC from burning oil shipped from the mainland by tanker.

Source: "Measuring What Matters for Kauaʻi" [Part I and Part II] by the Kauaʻi Planning & Action Alliance