Day 2 - Hiking in the rain

Hiking day today.  Yesterday, those were just exploratory hikes... today is a real hike. 

Kauai has a large number of hiking trails through the mountains and valleys.  So, of course, we pick one under the "Adventure" section of my travel book - not just the "Activities" section.

We chose the Kalalau trail, which is describe as "the ultimate hike, and also the most famous hike in all Hawaii".  11 miles of switchbacks, hills and beautiful scenery.  We decided to do 2 miles in and then turn around.  I don't think we're ready for a 22 mile hike.

We leave the condo under nice sunny skies.  2 minutes into our drive, it starts to rain, and rain, and rain...  at this point, I'm getting grumpy and less interested in hiking.  But we persevere.

There's a guy at the entrance of the trail warning us about the high water levels in the stream, and to not try to cross them...  we proceed cautiously.  First sign of danger, and I'm turning back.

The good thing about it is that he tells us that there are only about 10 people ahead of us.  On a normal sunny day, there would probably be about 400.  So, the path is going to be nice a quiet anyway.

1/4 of a mile up, we look back and here is the view.

At this point, it's still raining - pretty hard - but I'm deciding this is worth it.  It's beautiful, and it's not even as muddy or slippery as our path down to the beach yesterday.

Lots of greenery along this path...  here's what it looks like wet.

Cute little waterfalls along the way, which can easily turn into dangerous flash floods if this rain keeps up, but for now... enjoy.

Here's what the path looks like.  It was covered in rocks and well maintained.  It was originally built as a path for horses to carry stuff up the mountain.  Now, it's a popular hiking trail.

Here's one of very nice greenery.  Those blurry spots are water spots on my camera lens.  

I take out my waterbottle for a sip, and I notice for the first time the tagline: "Kauai - the wettest place on earth".  And somehow, at this point, I believe them.

Still, the scenery was beautiful, and so far, we're keeping safe.

We decide to turn back after just 1 mile in.  Took us about an hour to hike that first mile, and I didn't want to tempt faith.  Here's the view on the way back.

And, we get back to the bottom of the trail, and guess what?

Yup - that's blue sky.  Of course, the rain stopped finally, and the sun comes out.  Of course, with it is hot, humid temperatures - so I guess we were lucky to be hiking in the rain...  couldn't tell if that water dripping off us was rain or sweat.  Probably a bit of both.

Beach rooster to end the hiking adventure.

As we're leaving to go back to the car, the guy who was warning us about the conditions at the start of our hike is putting up a sign at the entrance of the path.

Sign says: "Path closed. No access."  I guess we were lucky.

Day 1 - Pu'u Pao Condos

Long day of travel yesterday, although everything went exactly according to schedule.  No delays or mishaps along the way.  Left Toronto at 8:20 AM, made our way through Denver, San Francisco, and finally arrived in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii at around 7:30 PM.  With the time difference, that's around 1:30 AM.  Then, we had a 1 hour drive from the airport to our condo: Pu'u Pao Condos (hence the name of the blog).  Needless to say, I was a bit tired when we finally got to our condo.

So, after a good, but short night's sleep, here is a shot from the breakfast table on the lanai.

Beautiful setting on the North side of Kauai island, in Princeville, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  I was sitting there on the lanai when I suddenly saw it...  ran to get my camera and voilà !!

Today is a day to explore our surroundings. Turns out, one of the nicest beaches on the North Side is steps from our condo.  Very steep, muddy, treacherous steps, but steps nonetheless.  Here is a panoramic view of this lovely beach.

Click on me.  I'm nicer in full size.

Another of Kauai's top attractions is also walking distance from our condo.  It's Queen's Bath, which is a lava rock formation, which has formed a large lava shelf the size of several swimming pools, in which the ocean water accumulates.  The waves come crashing into the rocks, and overflow into this lava basin.  At this time of year, it's still reasonably safe to swim here, so we did.

A view of Queen's Bath from partway down the path

Panoramic view of the waves crashing into the rocks.  Those of you who are perceptive will notice that this is now my banner on Facebook.

And here is one of the pool.  Google got at it, and enhanced it a bit, but no too much.  It really is that beautiful.

...and yes, that old man swimming at the front is Paul - enjoying a lovely birthday dip.

Another beautiful ocean and volcanic rock view.

After enjoying the water for a while, it was time to climb back up the path.  These paths are not for the faint of heart, especially after rain - very muddy and slippery, but we made it with no incident.  Here is a nice little waterfall that was running just beside the path.

Finally, the view looking back from up on the road, walking back to our condo.  Those rocks in the near distance is where we were swimming. 

Day 1 ended with a Paul's birthday dinner.  We went out to a local seafood restaurant and had a nice meal. Party was a little subdued due to a bit of jet-lag and a day in the sun, but nice end to a first day in Hawaii.