Some of which have even reported sub five hours times for completing all twenty two miles of the trail, which to me is madness. The main problem with the 1-day club is that all the accounts of the feat come from ultra runners, trail crazies, iron men, crossfit junkies, track superstars who can't let their glory days go, and people who look suspiciously like they are sponsored by redbull. Of course, not having the time to camp in this short weekend visit, I found myself reluctantly vying to be part of the exclusive 1-day club. Some sage souls even stop at one of the earlier campsites along the way and cut the initial eleven miles into even smaller chunks. Then there is a special brand of crazy who run/walk in and run/walk out all in the same day.
Splitting it into two eleven mile stretches is still challenging with a heavy pack, but incrementally it's a more reasonable commute. Most rational people hike the eleven miles to the trail’s conclusion (which dead ends in the Kalalau beach), camp for a few days and then hike back out along the same eleven miles they came in by. Kalalau is still a stunning once in a lifetime experience that I would recommend to anyone without a moment's hesitation, but it’s not a great way to start a three week hiking tour of New Zealand from a wear and tear perspective. It is the trail you hike when you want to swear off physical activity and wear sweatpants for the rest of the month. Eater of gear (my trail running bag and camera stabilizer were amongst my trail casualties on the hike). Especially when you are about to embark on a long hiking trip. The Kalalau Trail is the very definition of a bad warmup. Kalalau’s hazards can be traced to its angry coastal tides, sketchy stream crossings, flash floods, narrow sea cliff paths with dangerously distracting views, unpredictable weather, and a transient community that once threw a tourist off a cliff (the varying hazards are documented in exaggerated fashion in the guilty pleasure, one too many twists for its own good 2009 thriller A Perfect Getaway). Roundtrip, the trail is 22 miles (and 5,000 feet of elevation gain) of treacherous sea cliffs, winding canyons and towering waterfalls perched along Kauai’s Na Pali coast.
I had recently become obsessed with Kalalau after seeing it on a few must hike lists (some of which also happened to be most dangerous trails lists, but let’s not dwell on that) and hearing about it on some hiking blogs where it was discussed in hushed tones like some mythic bit of American trail lore. When I Initially booked a weekend layover in Kauai to break up the long commute to New Zealand, it was partially inspired by the opportunity to hike the Kalalau Trail.
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