Backpacking the Kalalau Trail on Kauai’s Na Pali Coast

I've seen a lot of beautiful places but Kauai's Na Pali coast is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It gives a sense of God's kingdom, heaven on earth, or maybe the Garden of Eden. Lush, abundant, fertile, but also treacherous, dangerous, and remote. Born of a volcano rising from the ocean millions of years ago and carved by wind and rain in the time since, one can only wonder what the Polynesian adventurers who discovered the coast thousands of years ago thought.

The Kalalau Trail is 22 miles and ~6,500 feet elevation gain which would be a challenge without the heavy pack. As a thrill seeker, the infamous Crawler's Ledge felt tame and disappointing, but the sections immedialy before and after were much more dangerous with loose gravel and scree sliding a thousand feet into the ocean below. The trail offers many side quest to other waterfalls in the back of the valleys if the 22 miles isn't enough.

Camping at Kalalau for me was a spiritual and cleansing experience, a bookmark between one chapter closing and something new and different. There's something about sleeping to the stars and waking to the sun, drinking from streams, and getting offline that gives a more authentic human experience. Crossed one thing off the bucket list but it opened up a whole world of opportunities, leaving with a renewed hunger for life. Do what you want with this information, but I plan to be back