{Travel} Kauai, Hawaii - Day 3: Hiking Ha'ena State Park & Beach

We started Day 3 in Kauai with some breakfast at the hotel.

The avocado toast was pretty good (and huge!).

We took a walk around the property and came upon a litter of kittens. They were so friendly and sweet.  There were at least five of them and all came up to us.

We had a pretty easy going morning because we had a more strenuous day planned.

We had reservations for Ha'ena State Park. We had to pick which day we wanted to go a month before we got there. Parking spots fill up immediately (and are mostly for Kauai residents) so they recommend getting reservations with the Go Ha'ena shuttle service.  The reservation included parking, transportation and entry fee into the park. There were two pick up locations and we were able to walk to one (about a mile from our hotel).  

When I made the reservation, I only saw that the main hike was 4 miles round trip (you can do a much longer trail and even get a permit to camp in the park--not our thing) and that didn't sound too bad. 

 The staff repeatedly said how slippery, rocky and steep the path was to the 2 mile point (half way) and back was even harder.  It looked like this in some of the easier parts. 

They told us our only job was to be back by the last shuttle bus (around 6pm).

We decided to just get up to the 1/4 mile mark because it was supposed to be one of the best views.

It was not fun and probably took us close to an hour. There are other hikers on the path and it's pretty much single file. There are also hikers coming down at the same time and some very serious hikers who don't want to stop.

Once we got to the look out point, there really were some stunning views.

It was enough for us and I was ready to head back down.

This felt like an accomplishment even though we didn't get very far.

Just gorgeous!

It was definitely harder going down because gravity and momentum.

I was so happy to be back down on solid ground.  I made friends with a cute chicken family.

We didn't realize that our fee also included spending time at Ha'ena Beach. Some people on the shuttle were doing just the beach.   

We didn't have beach gear with us but wanted to feel the water and sit in the sand for awhile.  There was this glorious monk seal just hanging out on the shore.   They had erected a small barrier to protect it from humans getting too close (from the beach side). I think it was just taking a nap.

We got the shuttle bus back to Hanalei and then got another one that took us right to our hotel.  We asked our driver what happened if people missed the last bus of the night and were told that the locals often go to the beach for sunset and will drive the stranded people home (there's no cell service in the park!).  I was impressed by the kindness and Aloha spirit.

Back at the hotel, we cut up the Sugarloaf white pineapple and took some to the pool with us.  Delicious!

We had some relaxing pool time and I even read some of my book.

When in Hawaii--order some Blue Hawaiians.  Even better if enjoyed by the pool.

We were pretty tired that night and just wanted to stay local for dinner. The hotel had very limited options so we walked over to the Princeville Shopping Center to look for a dinner spot.   We picked B's Kitchen and had some really good pizza.  (We are pizza snobs so it takes a lot to impress us).

It started to drizzle on our walk back but we also caught the sun setting on another wonderful day in magical Kauai.

to be continued...

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