We decided to hike up the Okolehao Trail to the peak of Hihimanu Ridge. This after considering our conditioning and pathfinding ability and the likelihood we'd get lost and drown trying to hike to the Blue Hole.
We woke up early and went to Passion bakery to order 2 malasadas. Even though we were there at 8am an hour after opening, it was crowded with a half hour wait, so we got a nice cappuccino and croissant across the street at Aloha roasters while we waited. Then we went back to the bakery to pick up our malasadas (which are Hawaiian doughnuts identical in every way to sufganiot), and ordered an egg and bacon sandwich for Guy and a fruit smoothie for Leia.
With all the breakfast we didn't get to the trailhead until 10am, and I attended my Connection Dojo facilitator training while hiking up the first part of the trail, much to their surprise. During which time Leia got bitten by 12554774 mosquitoes. The trail was very muddy; every step had to be placed with care. There were two viewpoints of Hanalei Bay, with a comfortable log where I finished my call, and the second had a couple of benches. Then the trail got very difficult.
It didn't get any less muddy, and with much less traffic the trail narrowed a lot, but we could still see it through the underbrush. Many sections had muddy climbs with sheer drops on at least one side. I don't think I've ever hiked such short distances so slowly. We followed it until a sign saying End Trail. We poked around for a way to proceed there because it was nowhere near the peaks, but after seeing descents in every possible path I realized we'd really gone off along a neighboring ridge. Fortunately I had a good topological trail map and knew how to read it, and was able to backtrack to the correct turn.
The last third of the trail had very steep descents and ascents. We did not see a soul anywhere up that ridge trail, except for a few gray frogs the size of my palm. The steep trail up and down had ropes for grip. This was still slippery with mud - the ropes too - and took a long time to inch our way through. We finally got up to a ridge with no room for my two feet side-by-side and kept at it, climbing up ropes to an intermediate peak until we walked right into a rain cloud. When it was clear we'd have been able to spy through the foliage Hanalei Bay and the entire north coast of Kauai on one side, the inland jungle valleys on the other.
Past a saddle and two more ropes up into the rain let us see clouds over the ridge and yet another descent ahead of us, where I decided to call it with less than a kilometer left from looming Mt. Hihimanu itself - but an extremely steep one with over 20 ropes ahead to ascend. It took about six hours up and down but we didn't make it to the highest peak.
Our return was comparatively easier, knowing the route and what to expect. Our car was the last one near the trailhead parking when we got down.
We drove to the extremely bourgeoisie town of Princeville to find a food truck called Taste of Asia for lunch at 5pm. Guy had Katsu fish and Leia had Katsu pork which she couldn’t finish. Then we drove to Tunnels beach, which is mentioned online as one of the top sunset spots on the island.
The hike had left us muddy up to our waists. Our shoes took the most damage. We brought a change of sandals in the car and used them to drive to the beach. No cars are allowed to park by the sides of the road, so we found a nearby alleyway and left the car there. Thankfully, since the official beach parking lot was located a mile away. The alley led us directly into the beach.
Tunnels beach had coarse sand full of broken shells and sheets of black rock in the water. Guy waded some into the ocean, we took some photos, and watched the sunset. There was a beautiful view of the island with its green ridges and finger-like prominences.
It was a strenuous day. By the end of it I clocked 24,000 steps, 5,500 calories, 460 minutes of exercise heart rate, and the equivalent of over 200 flights of stairs.
We stopped by a restaurant / bar called Kalypso Island in Hanalei (after getting on the wait-list at a couple others) and had 3 Pupus (appetizers); mahi sliders, coconut shrimp, and ahi “sashimi”. Then Leia drove us to our hotel for a well-earned shower.
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