As a warning, this is going to be a long post.
As some may know, for my birthday Brayden surprised me with a trip to Kauai, HI. He announced it on Thursday (May, 21st) and I had to be packed and ready to go early Saturday morning. So I had one day to get everything ready. Brayden's sister Jen had this trip to hike the NaPali Coast Trail planned for months in advance. I knew about it, but I had no plan of going. The group included Carol (Brayden's mom), Marilyn (Brayden's aunt), Jen (B's sister), Carrie (B's sister), Robby (B's brother), Laurel (Robby's girlfriend), Janice (Jen's friend), and Phil (Jen's friend). It was an awesome group and we all got along great. Carol, Marilyn, Carrie and I arrived the evening of Saturday May 23rd. We didn't have time to do much besides grab a bite to eat on the way to our rental condo. It was dark so we didn't see much.
Day two we woke and packed our backpacks and left for our three day hike. We hiked 10 miles, four to Hanakapi-ai waterfalls and six to our campsite for the night. It ended up raining half the day and we were drenched by the time we made it to camp. Not only from the rain, but from multiple river crossings where everyone (except Robby) at least slipped ankle deep in the river. One good thing about Hawaii is when you get wet you don't get cold, just wet.
The next day we split up and Jen, Phil, and I went to check out the Hanakoa waterfall while the rest of the group went on to the beach. The falls were beautiful and well worth the two mile detour to get there. There is a known band of "hippies" that live on the beach year round. We could hear them not to far off on the way to the beach. We were invited to join, but decided to head on down to the rest of the group. I'm sure I could have had more exciting things to write about if I had joined! Our group of three arrived at Kalalau Beach at around 4:00 p.m. The rest of the evening was full of relaxation and exploration. It was an amazing beach with an unbeatable panoramic view. I had a great time standing ankle deep in the ocean and lying on the beach soaking up the sun.
On our final day of the hike we woke bright and early and hit the trail by 7:00 in the morning. I was not looking forward to hiking the 11 miles out, but surprisingly it was not near as bad as I thought. Jen, Janice, and I broke ahead of the rest and made great time. There was no rain and it was a beautiful day. We ate lunch at Hanakapi'ai Beach around noon and waited for the second batch of hikers (Robby, Laurel, and Phil) to complete the two miles left. We completed the hike around 2:30 p.m. It felt really good to be done and to take my backpack off for the last time. I was sweaty, tired, and had a stench I had never smelled on me before, but I felt amazing!
The next couple days we hit the tourist attractions and just relaxed. We hit a luau on our way out of town where Robby proposed to Laurel. It was a fun ending to our stay in Kauai. I was sad to leave, but I was very excited to get back to the family.
As some may know, for my birthday Brayden surprised me with a trip to Kauai, HI. He announced it on Thursday (May, 21st) and I had to be packed and ready to go early Saturday morning. So I had one day to get everything ready. Brayden's sister Jen had this trip to hike the NaPali Coast Trail planned for months in advance. I knew about it, but I had no plan of going. The group included Carol (Brayden's mom), Marilyn (Brayden's aunt), Jen (B's sister), Carrie (B's sister), Robby (B's brother), Laurel (Robby's girlfriend), Janice (Jen's friend), and Phil (Jen's friend). It was an awesome group and we all got along great. Carol, Marilyn, Carrie and I arrived the evening of Saturday May 23rd. We didn't have time to do much besides grab a bite to eat on the way to our rental condo. It was dark so we didn't see much.
Day two we woke and packed our backpacks and left for our three day hike. We hiked 10 miles, four to Hanakapi-ai waterfalls and six to our campsite for the night. It ended up raining half the day and we were drenched by the time we made it to camp. Not only from the rain, but from multiple river crossings where everyone (except Robby) at least slipped ankle deep in the river. One good thing about Hawaii is when you get wet you don't get cold, just wet.
The next day we split up and Jen, Phil, and I went to check out the Hanakoa waterfall while the rest of the group went on to the beach. The falls were beautiful and well worth the two mile detour to get there. There is a known band of "hippies" that live on the beach year round. We could hear them not to far off on the way to the beach. We were invited to join, but decided to head on down to the rest of the group. I'm sure I could have had more exciting things to write about if I had joined! Our group of three arrived at Kalalau Beach at around 4:00 p.m. The rest of the evening was full of relaxation and exploration. It was an amazing beach with an unbeatable panoramic view. I had a great time standing ankle deep in the ocean and lying on the beach soaking up the sun.
On our final day of the hike we woke bright and early and hit the trail by 7:00 in the morning. I was not looking forward to hiking the 11 miles out, but surprisingly it was not near as bad as I thought. Jen, Janice, and I broke ahead of the rest and made great time. There was no rain and it was a beautiful day. We ate lunch at Hanakapi'ai Beach around noon and waited for the second batch of hikers (Robby, Laurel, and Phil) to complete the two miles left. We completed the hike around 2:30 p.m. It felt really good to be done and to take my backpack off for the last time. I was sweaty, tired, and had a stench I had never smelled on me before, but I felt amazing!
The next couple days we hit the tourist attractions and just relaxed. We hit a luau on our way out of town where Robby proposed to Laurel. It was a fun ending to our stay in Kauai. I was sad to leave, but I was very excited to get back to the family.
Panoramic View of Kalalua Beach
The Napali Coast Beauty!
The Napali Coast Hikers
Needless to say this was an amazing vacation. I love my husband for being so generous with this birthday present. It was a great get away. It was my first time to leave the kids, and I missed them. I'm glad I was able to do it though. Also thanks to Jen for planning and arranging the trip. She did a great job. She is definitely the adventerous one in the Richmond family.
