billeisenhauer.com — Life

View toward Na Pali

Originally uploaded by bill_eisenhauer.

If you are a long-time follower of this blog, you may recall our previous experience with hiking. We decided to try it again on the Kalalau Trail. So, did either of us fall? Did it rain? Was it worth it?

We began our trek by parking in a satellite parking lot which would enable us to walk past the Blue Room. Neither of us had seen the Blue Room and it remains one of those talked about places in many of the Kauai books. We saw a trail leading up a small ridge and followed it to a cave opening. Neither of us felt much value in taking the trip down into the cave — was their even water down there? Is this really the Blue Room? So we passed.

Another 100 yards down the road was a turnout with cars and people milling about. Turns out, the Blue Room is right there on the side of the road. I guess that escaped our research. We did explore it briefly, but we feel like the Blue Room has seen better days. The water was low and it was covered with an unsightly film. Its no wonder they tell you now to not swim in it. We sure wouldn’t want to. So alas, we had our answer, the previous spot was not the Blue Room and we were somewhat embarrassed that we didn’t know that.

Having said that, there was no mistaking the Kalalau Trail once we walked upon it. There’s a small structure sitting there with details of the hike. As you’ll see later, we probably should have read more of those details.

We began the hike walking up through rocks. It was mildly steep and we were thinking this hike was going to be pretty challenging if it was rocky all the way. Thankfully, the rocks only persisted for a hundred yards or so. It was just that those were some challenging yards. No problem for us, though.

We eventually made our way to the dirt part of the trail and the hike became more like how we envision a hike to be. Unlike our previous experience, there were actual visible trails here and passage was quite easy.

Having said that, you always have to be looking down at the ground to ensure you aren’t about to catch a root or a rock wrong and topple yourself. There was a stretch of roots that reminded me of the tire drill in football. They also reminded me of something that I would see in a Harry Potter film — unmoving as you step into them, but subtlely changing position to topple you. Of course, I saw that you could go around them and so we did.

Along the way, there were frequent payoff views back to Ke’e Beach. The water was an amazing color and there was an occasional turtle in view as well. Our last hike seemed short on incremental payoffs — I think our first one came over an hour into the hike! Not so with this one.

Eventually, we came to the one mile marker and could see a great view in either direction. The view here is toward Na Pali and is quite spectacular. If you look the other way, you can see back toward Ke’e. It was truly worth the effort.

Along the way, we passed some hikers and then saw others returning. One young woman mentioned that she was unable to make it to the beach — a little disheartening as we thought it was only 2 miles out from the start. We pressed on for quite a while and it felt like 2 miles to us. Of course, when you are looking down and trying to stay upright, I guess 2 miles can feel like much longer.

Finally we ran into a couple who mentioned that the beach was actually 4 miles from the start. This led us to question our research and so we decided to turn around. We felt like we had already enjoyed the hike enough and didn’t really think that a 2 mile extension would be enjoyable.

We made our way down with no issue and enjoyed the experience quite thoroughly. However, we did subsequently find that we were right about the distance to the beach. We were probably not that far off. So our tip to you is to do your research because you may find that others will not. In the end, you need to trust yourself.

Unlike our last hike, it did not rain on us. This made things MUCH easier. If it had rained, I’m sure we would have had a similarly challenging experience. Since there was no rain, there were also no falls by either of us.

Bottom line: we like hiking again and the first part of Kalalau Trail is highly recommended. Since my sad little write-up on the last hike ranks second on Google with “Honopu Ridge Hike”, I’m happy to balance that out with a better review. I think we were just completely mismatched with weather and terrain on that hike. This one was fabulous.

Dining on the Lanai at Bali Hai

Originally uploaded by bill_eisenhauer.

Going out to eat in Kauai isn’t likely to be similar to going to Chili’s. If you know where to look, you can find dinner with a spectacular view. Here we are at the Bali Hai Restaurant at the Hanalei Bay Resort right around sunset.

The view looks toward Hanalei Bay and you can see Bali Hai just to the left of my shoulder.

On a fashion note, Suzanne got me this shirt through mail order at the Kamehameha Garment Company. I’d love to include a link to them, but they do not appear to have a site!

The River House

Originally uploaded by bill_eisenhauer.

We are staying at A River House in Haena on Kauai. That’s its name, but we are calling it “the” River House.

This is a new find for us made out of necessity since the place we usually stay is being occupied by its owners (damn them…or maybe not). We found this place by way of my friend, Phillip, who stayed here last August and had nothing but good things to say. Sure enough, he was right.

After a full day of travel from Texas, we finally drove up to the place late into the evening — well, late for us. Our bodies told us it was near 2am or so. And as you would expect, we were each a bit cranky. But when we got out of the car, we could hear the sound of the nearby river and all was suddenly okay. One thing I like about Kauai is the sound of rain while I’m sleeping, but this river gives you that sound 24 hours a day.

The story of the house’s owners is quite interesting. They divide their time between here and Alaska. While in Alaska, they perform a ferrying service for fishermen out to sea. I think this means that they provide anything from a cup of coffee and a place to drink it to a holding area for catches. In reading their stories, its clear that while the River House is their paradise, their work seems like a cold kind of hell. One of their stories began with 30 knot winds and horizontal snow.

Turns out, they used to live in Montana, but decided to move to Kauai in search for a warmer climate with which to rest up for the four months in between their seasons. I often feel like I suffer in between my trips here, but they bring new meaning to suffering. Of course, that’s entirely my opinion, they are probably quite comfortable with it.

Back to the house. The main house has dark hardwoods and a simple, but complete kitchen. There is a built-in dinette with about a 270 degree view of the river and the cliffs. There is basically one main room for TV-watching and reading and then there is a single bedroom. Its not huge, but its perfect for two people. There is a wrap-around lanai which is good for listening to the river, reading, having a glass of wine, or whatever you feel inclined to do.

To the right of house in the pictures is another cabin which you could rent as a package if you had more people. It sleeps two. Unpictured is another structure which I believe they are calling the “nest”. It has a bed and a half-bath and provides you an even closer experience with nature.

The grounds are full of flowers and there are actually three streams that run through the property. The main streams is probably 20′ wide and has a healthy current. The stream closest to the house is gentle, but the mini-falls provides a mesmerizing sound. The stream in between the two is a small little tributary that you could easily jump over.

We are amazed at the varieties of plants and flowers that we have found. They have no doubt worked on this property for years to give this the look that it currently has. I’ve been tinkering with my camera settings to get better pictures of the falls and the flowers, but have only been partially successful.

Though we are only really in Day Two, I’m going to highly recommend this place. We are two miles from the beach and about five miles from the town, so it is plenty convenient. The owners also appear to be into cooking, so there is every kind of spice you can think of here as well as lots of cookbooks. We will not be taking great advantage, but if you visit you certainly could.

I’ll post more pics of the property sometime in the next few days.