Our group grabbed some breakfast sandwiches and was out the door by 6:00 on Wednesday morning as we had to drive 90 minutes to the other side of the island, jump on a shuttle bus, and then arrive at the Nepali Coast State Park where we would have the opportunity to walk almost nine miles to the Hanakapai Falls. It would be a very rugged and muddy walk - even more rugged and muddy than the one we walked two days before - and not everyone would choose to go all the way back to the falls.
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When we left the house, it was chilly and starting to drizzle. The closer that we got to the shuttle bus, the darker it became and we wondered if they might cancel the excursion since a heavy rainfall could cause the river to rise too high for crossing. Thankfully the rain tapered off and was only a drizzle by the time that we got on the bus.
Our group... nervous and excited to be setting out.
When we arrived at the trailhead, there was a park ranger there who warned us of the normal dangers of the trail, gave us instructions on how to keep ourselves safe, how much water to bring, etc....and since it was raining lightly at that time, we were also warned that it would be slippery in parts and we should use extra caution. Then we were off.
At first, it was a piece of cake!!
After a short while, it started the upward climb and the rocks and mud became more and more slippery and the terrain became a lot more rugged.
The views certainly became prettier the higher that we climbed...
We had walked a little over a mile when we came up to a point on the trail where there was a large group of people standing. They were taking pictures of something and when we came around the bend, we noticed a beautiful rainbow that came down and settled in the canyon. Once again my camera does not do it justice.
We stopped at this point to take a group picture. Then Brent said that all who planned to walk all the way to the waterfall and back (9 miles round trip) should probably pick up the pace and walk ahead and the rest would follow behind at a slower pace and turn around at the half-way mark, which was the river trail. Since I had planned to attempt the entire trail, that is when I had to leave the girls and head off with six of the guys.
It was shortly after that picture was taken that we started going downhill on the slippery and muddy path and I fell almost right away as I tried to navigate the rocks and limbs. (That kicked off a series of falls from several of us and by the time I finished the trail, I had fallen at least two more times.) All together, we walked almost 2.5 miles until we got down to the river. We had to cross over the river and then once we got to the other side, we came up to this beautiful beach where many set up tents and camp overnight.
As soon as we crossed the river, we would begin the second part of the trail, which was another 2 miles back to the waterfall.
Anyone need to use the bathroom? This would be the last chance until we made it back here over four miles later. After watching the faces of some of the guys who visited the facilities, I took a hard pass.
Anyone having second thoughts? Now would be the time to change your mind and head back because the trail starts up again from here.
Even though the path was rugged, it was constantly changing. At times we were walking through the bamboo...
at times we would be walking with a beautiful view of the mountains in the distance.
We would cross back and forth over the river a couple of more times...
But we just kept making our way further and further down into the canyon as we made or way to the ultimate goal.
A couple of times we would come through the parted trees and see the waterfall in the distance as we were slowly getting closer.
Finally... about two hours since we had started the trail, we came around one final turn and we had reached our destination.
We would spend the next thirty minutes resting, eating some snacks, and taking pictures.
Noel and Josh also decided that since they had walked 4.5 miles to get to the waterfall, they may as well enjoy every bit of it so they decided to go for a cold swim underneath the falls.
I have video of both of them swimming as close to the falls as they could but Noel said that as they got closer, the spray started hitting him harder and harder and since it was a 400 foot drop from the top, he wasn't sure how much it would be hurt to go directly under the water so they got as close as they could without hurting themselves. As I mentioned, the water was really really cold however, so they did finally make their way back to the rocks so that they could get dried off and we could begin the 4.5 mile trek back.
And another video that you can watch by clicking here.
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Here is our whole group.
All feeling very satisfied with our accomplishments. All wondering how tired and sore we would feel the next day. LOL
I'm not going to lie. I felt really good when we arrived at the waterfall and I wondered why everyone had made it sound like it was a difficult walk. Except for the falls from the mud, I didn't think that it had been too challenging. And I even did alright the first two miles back from the waterfall...
...but then we hit the river again and I suddenly realized how tired my legs were. And we still had another two miles to go!!!
On the way back, I didn't even try to jump across the rocks. I just found the most shallow looking parts of the river and jumped in to walk across. I figured that it would be better than misjudging my steps and falling in un-expectantly. LOL
Was a helicopter really an option? LOL
No worries...by this point, we were almost back to the top and we could see the ocean again, which gave me the motivation to keep moving. It wouldn't be long now.
And then we were back!! Nine miles complete.
What a beautiful sight!!
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After the seven of us got back to the trailhead, we used a faucet to clean as much of the mud off of our clothes and shoes as we could and then a shuttle bus took us back to where we had parked the van. We were all tired and hungry so texted the rest of our crew that had finished their walk earlier and we all met up in the local town to grab some lunch and to share with each other about our days activities.
When we got into town, we decided to eat at a place called "Chicken in a Barrel". I'm still wondering what was the motivation behind that name. LOL
Unfortunately, we had divided into three groups earlier in the day, depending on how far you were planning to hike. Our group walked the full nine miles and finished the trail last. There was the group that started the trail with us but turned back early. And then there was one group that bypassed the trail all together and spent the day shopping and running errands. Unfortunately, that group had a flat tire and spent a good part of the afternoon on the side of the road until we could all meet back up with them and divide the people from that van up into the two remaining vans. It was a tight fit, that's for sure!!
Our Wednesday evening ended up with another wonderful dinner of taco bowls, rice, and mixed fruit and then we had another group session that included playing the "Newlywed Game". All of the girls were given five questions about our husbands and the guys were asked five questions about us wives. Noel and I actually answered 6 or our 10 questions correctly so we were the winners -- and received this beautiful surfboard cutting board as our prize!!
Whether we had won or not, we all had so much fun laughing and learning new things about each other.
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