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| Hiking | 2.05 Miles |
643 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.05 Miles | 1 Hour 50 Mns | | 1.54 mph |
| 643 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Hike 3 of 3 on my one-day tour up Waimea Canyon and surrounding area.
The Airplane trail is not a designated trail, though it is a common use trail, and is the shortest of several that run along the spine of Kauai's razor-edge mountains that extend down to the Na Pali Coast.
The trail starts at the Kalalau Valley Lookout at the left end of the fencing as you approach the lookout. The trail is well defined, but very steep in the first 1/4 mile, where you drop most of your elevation, before the grade of the descent moderates.
As you approach the point, the trail narrows, with drop offs of 1000s of feet on each side. Definitely not a trail for those with a fear of heights. Also not recommended after rain when muddy, but I went anyway .... It wasn't too bad if you are careful. That said, this was the only hike on the entire trip where I completely lost my footing and took a hard landing on my  . Luckily, it was at a spot where there was no real exposure.
As I descended along the ridge, the valley began to fill up with clouds. The canyon with clouds also made for dramatic views of their own kind. That said, I was kind of bummed because I'm sure the overlook into Kalalau valley from the point would be spectacular. I waited around for 20 min or so to see if the clouds would lift. They didn't, so I made my return, as we had dinner plans in Poi'pu--and I needed to get cleaned up after 10 miles or so of pretty muddy hiking.
As a consolation, along the way, I ran across several billy goats, who very nimbly navigated the extremely steep slopes, without even batting an eye. Impressive.
Would love to come back again and do a lot more exploring in this area! |
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Route Editor
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