Just a few recent headlines and stories indicate just what can happen when visitors venture out on the Kalalau Trail and the Na Pali Coast. We had this happen last month: Visitor injured at Honopu Beach — A 35-year-old woman from
Just a few recent headlines and stories indicate just what can happen when visitors venture out on the Kalalau Trail and the Na Pali Coast.
We had this happen last month:
Visitor injured at Honopu Beach — A 35-year-old woman from Boulder, Colo., sustained a serious injury on the Napali Coast. She was airlifted out in Air 1. The woman had been swimming in the shore break at Honopu Beach when she reportedly injured her spine. Rescuers treated the woman using C-spine precautions, and then flew her and her husband to Princeville Airport. Awaiting medics then transported the woman to Wilcoax Hospital.
And this, too:
Visitor airlifted from Kalalau Valley — A 48-year-old woman from San Diego, Calif., was airlifted from Kalalau Valley after sustaining a leg injury. The woman was crossing the Kalalau stream with family and friends when she slipped and fell and broke her lower right leg. Rescue specialists treated the woman and then airlifted her to Princeville Airport. From there, Medic 22 transported her to Wilcox Hospital.
Expect to read more such stories, because we’re coming into the busiest time of the year for hikers on the Kalalau Trail, considered one of America’s most dangerous hikes. This is no leisurely hiking path. It’s up and down and around, marked with rocks and roots and boulders. There are streams to cross, cliffs to navigate and narrow ledges where one misstep could send someone tumbling to the ocean below.
One person described the Kalalau Trail as, “Amazingly beautiful, but completely terrifying.”
Still, that doesn’t discourage an estimated 2,000 hikers entering the Kalalau Trail on average each day for an outing on the trailhead that begins at Kee Beach. Before you go, know that anyone proceeding past Hanakoa Valley about six miles in needs a camping permit, and those aren’t easy to come by. Permits sell out early, up to a year in advance, even. No wonder. The views, the beaches, the scenery, are simply amazing and frankly, worth the work and the risk.
That said, we urge anyone planning to hike Kalalau to be careful, be prepared and be in shape, because it can be demanding and dangerous. This is one of the times when no news would indeed be good news.
