Fun with Fitness: Kauai Day 4

Day 4 was a pretty incredible day on the island. Since less than 20% of Kauai is accessible by car the saying goes that "visiting Kauai and not seeing it by air is like going to the Sistine Chapel and not looking up." I used to work for the US Forest Service as a wildland firefighter helicopter rappeller. In the course of my job I was paid to fly over and rappel into places such as Mt Whitney, the southern Sierra Nevadas, and the Nevada high desert. Helicopter tours on Kauai are so incredible, that even with this background, I have gladly paid for helicopter tours both times I've been to Kauai.

We woke up early Sunday morning to once again head down to the south side of the island. Both times I've flown with Inter-Island Helicopters for a few reasons. The first time I flew with them they also served as the Fire Rescue contract helicopter for Kauai, making them pretty near and dear to my heart. They fly with the doors off, which for me is really the only way to fly. And they fly the fast MD500 Hughs helicopters. Think Magnum P.I. or the "Little Birds" from Blackhawk Down.

This time I paid a little more for a private tour and ended up on the smaller Robinson R44 helicopter. I was a little ambivalent on this one, because the MD is like the ferrari of helicopters - quick and just plain bad ass looking. The R44 looks like something out of a cute little anime cartoon. The woman at the counter assured me that she had her reservations about little ship when they first got it. Once she flew in it and realized that the windows were much bigger, making it better for pictures, she gained a new appreciation for it. And when it was in the air, it flew just the same as the bigger ship. It fast became her favorite helicopter.

We sat through a quick safety briefing, strapped our life jackets on and were led out to the awaiting helicopter, which was all spooled up and ready to go. Our pilot, Conrad, introduced himself, made sure we were all situated, then lifted up and banked around to the right as we took off into the air.

First we flew over Waimeia Canyon which we had just been visiting the day before.

http://nuffsaid6.blogspot.com/2012/10/fun-with-fitness-kauai-2012-day-3.html

Conrad was an extremely knowledgeable tour guide and an great pilot. We soon got the feeling that even for someone that does this day in and day out for a living, he was having as much fun up here as we were.

Next we flew along the North Shore making for the second of four ways we'd experience the Napali Coast this trip. The first of which, the Kalalau Lookout and Pihea Trail, were also mentioned in the Kauai Day 3 post.

We continued along the coast flying over Tunnels Beach which we visited the first day.

From here we flew into the interior of the island. Kauai is home to literally the wettest place on earth. The 5,142' Mount Waialeale literally meaning "ripling water" or "overflowing water averages over 452 inches of rain a year and received a record setting 683 inches of rain. According to Conrad it rains 350 days, yet somehow we managed to catch it on one of those five days when it was clear allowing us to fly right into the shield volcano.

Shield volcanos are usually built almost entirely of lava flows and are so named because their profiles resemble a warrior's shield.

As we zig zagged through the canyons I became won over by the R44's nimbleness and the expansive open views it offered.

I used a GoPro camera with a wrist housing for most of the pics and video on this ride. Overall it worked out really well, but a a lot of my pictures did come out a bit off kilter due to not being able to sight the camera very well with it mounted on the wrist. Another issue that came up was about half way through the ride I noticed condensation on the inside of the case, obscuring the lens. I know now that when using the GoPro to make sure that the lens and lens cover are free of all smudges and that the case is completely dry inside before sealing the camera inside.

We then re-enacted the "Welcome to Jurassic Park" scene as we flew over Jurassic Falls.

We wound around the island a bit more, but before we knew it, it was time to head back to the helibase. We hopped off the little ship with ear to ear grins. Check out Conrad in the background throwing out a shaka.

Now, this might seem like a full day's adventures, but we had barely started for the day. When we landed, it wasn't even 0930 yet. We departed the helibase in search of fuel for the rest of the day (aka breakfast). We drove around a bit and happened upon the Kauai Coffee Company.

There we thermoses with free samples of the coffees on a table in the patio. I'm generally not a big coffee drinker. I drink my coffee black and save it for those times when I really need it such as working 48 hours straight on the line of a wildland fire. The Kauai Blue Mountain blend didn't give me the jitters that normal coffee does and was so incredibly smooth that I could see myself going there every morning for cup to start off the day. We went inside to get a full cup of coffee. A cheerful retiree named Chuck sold us cups for $1.50 each and then rounded us up for a tour of the plantation.

The tour takes about 15 minutes, is pretty interesting and informative and well worth it. Fueled up and energized we drove down the shore to Poipu Beach to snorkel with tropical chickens, fish and sea turtles.

Kauai chickens have no natural predators so they have flourished and are found just about everywhere on the island. They have interbred with other tropical birds leading to some very colorful combinations. Imagine a rooster with a peacock tail.

We hopped into the water to be greeted by a bunch of fish of different colors and sizes darting past us.

For most of the time we were out there a pair of sea turtles we hanging out in the shallow surf. The lifeguards were very diligent making sure all of us gave the turtles a wide berth and let them go about their business.

We swam until the early evening and then headed back over to Port Allen to end the day by watching yet another incredible sunset.

Fun with Fitness: Kauai 2012 Day 3

Since we were still waking up at O'dark thirty with the time difference, I got my stuff together and headed out for a swim at sunrise. Directly adjacent to our hotel was the Lydgate State Park and sheltered beach area. The sheltered beach area was built in 1964 and has two sections - a shallow inner pool ideal for kids, and a deeper section good for snorkeling and swimming. Although there weren't a lot I was surprised to see a few fish around 6-8" long swimming along side me. This definitely made for the best "hotel pool" I've ever visited.

North of the pools are several religious and historical sites including the remains of a Hawaiian temple named the Hikina Akala Heiau which dates as far back as 800 a.d. South of the pools is a 16,000 sq ft area known as the Kamalani Playground. It was built by 7,000 volunteers in 1994 and is maintained by the community. This will definitely have to serve as a site for workouts and play on future trips to Hawaii. As it was, this morning after my swim I trained right there on the beach for upcoming the Naked Warrior Certification.

Afterwards we headed to the south side of the island. We stopped at a fruit stand along the way for some incredibly delicious mango and papaya, and then continued to the Waimeia Canyon Lookout at around 3,400' elevation. For such a small place, Kauai is an island of extremes. While the north side is a lush and dense jungle, the south side has dry desert like conditions.

Waimeia is known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific". Looking at the pics you can see how it got this nickname. It provided another great opportunity to continue my GTG training for the day.

We then continued up the mountain to the Koke'e State Park and Museum. This area was quite a bit cooler than the costal regions, with average temperatures in the 40-70 degree range depending on the time of year. The woman at the museum counter told us that her favorite hiking trail on the island was the Pihea Trail. We drove a little ways further to its traillhead at the Kalalau Lookout. This was the first of four ways this trip in which we experienced the rugged Napali Coast.

With its vivid orange soil and lush deep green vegetation on jagged cliffs rising sharply out of the ocean, the trail looked like it was directly from the pages of a Dr. Seuss story book.

We hiked until the trail met up with the Alakai Crossing a few miles in before turning around.

We headed back down the mountain just in time to catch the sunset at Spouting Horn in Poipu. During large swells, the surf channels into a natural lava tube and erupts into a huge spout of water.

According to gohawaii.com

Ancient Hawaiians believed this coastline was once guarded by a giant moo (lizard) named Kaikapu. Everyone was afraid of the moo because it would eat anyone who tried to fish or swim in the area. One day, a young boy named Liko entered the ocean to outwit the lizard. Kaikapu attacked him, but Liko thrust a sharp stick into her mouth, swam under the lava shelf, and escaped through a small hole to the surface. The moo followed Liko and got stuck in the lava tube. To this day, you can hear the lizard’s roar and see her breath spraying from the blowhole.

Visiting this island makes it very easy to see how so many legends were spawned here.

Fun with Fitness: Kauai Day 2

One great thing about going from California to Hawaii is that they are 3 time zones behind us. The wild roosters on the island would start crowing around 0500-0600, but since we were waking up around 0400 local time this didn't bother us at all.

We woke up to the sound of the ocean and watched an amazing sunrise before heading out to Wailua Falls.

This waterfall was made famous when it was featured in the opening scene of the TV show Fantasy Island. The Falls are 80' high and flat on top with channels carved into the rock from centuries of water flow. Ancient warriors used to prove their bravery by jumping from the top. This is as well as even climbing to the top is highly discouraged these days as a slip and fall could easily be fatal. We didn't realize it at the time, but visitors can take a slippery trail to the bottom and take a dip in the cool mountain water.

Afterwards we headed out to hike the Powerline trail. We had heard that this trail has spectacular views of the interior of the island as well sweeping ocean views. The trail is for dry weather only and is unmaintained. I've spent many miles off trail in my Forest Service days. An unmaintained trail with incredible views sounded like fun.

The sign reads "Powerline Trail. Unmaintained Trail Proceed at Your own Risk"

The trail started out steep and muddy in spots.

After about a mile and a half in, it soon became so much muddier and the vegetation denser, that if we wanted to proceed we would've needed a machete and snow shoes.

We headed back down to come up with plan B. We spent some time walking by the river, looking at the amazing local vegetation before consulting the trail maps.

We settled on the Kuilua Ridge Trail. We heard that it was paved and a super easy trail, but we were bound and determined to hike something this day before it got too late. Turns out when the locals told us it was paved, they really meant that it was maintained and the first part graded. It soon turned into a single track trail with some decent grades both up and down.

We made a new friend along the way.

And then were treated to some pretty amazing views of the valley.

At 1 1/2 miles in the trail leveled off into a grassy picnic area. Overlooking the valley, we could easily imagine a few Na'vi from Avatar running through the country side. The vegetation was some of the densest and the leaves some of the largest I have ever seen.

We hiked on another mile or so further, but as it got later in the day, we realized how much more difficult the trail would be hiking back if it began to rain. We turned around and enjoyed the spectacular views on the hike back.

Check out Fun with Fitness: Kauai Day 1 Arriving on the Island here

nuffsaid6.blogspot.com/2012/10/fun-with-fitness-kauai-day-1.html

Fun With Fitness Kauai: Day 1

It's been quite a while since my last blog post. I've been so busy, working, playing and having fun that I'm quite a few posts behind. This post however, I wanted to write up right away while it was still fresh in my mind.

Last year for my big trip I went to New Jersey in the middle of December to repeatedly dunk myself into muddy water pits in sub freezing temperatures.

World's Toughest Mudder WTM-WTF

This year I went to Kauai.

A few weeks ago at work my captain was talking about the amazing deals he was finding on Alaskan Airlines to Hawaii. I looked it up and sure enough, there were round trip deals non-stop out of Oakland for $315. Looking on PleasantHawaiianHolidays.com we found a trip for $749/person for non-stop airfare, 6 nights/7 days at the Aston Aloha Hotel in Kapa'a and a rental car with a second driver. We booked it the next day and in a week found ourselves on our way to Kauai.

I've been to Oahu twice, Maui once and Kauai one time before. Kauai is by far my favorite. The island is pretty small, only about 50 miles around, and less than 20% of it is accessible by car. Still though, because of its incredible beauty and lushness, it has served as the set for such movies and TV shows such as Fantasy Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar, Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Our flight left at 0700 and we arrived in Lihue around 0900 so we had a few hours to explore and run around before we could check into hour hotel. I like staying in Kapa'a because it gives equal access to both the north and south sides of the island. We decided to head north the first day to get the lay of the land.

One thing about Kauai is between the two lane roads, the one lane bridges and the road construction, you're not going to get anywhere in a hurry, but why would you want to here? Anywhere you drive on this island has breathtaking views.

The first place we stopped was the Kilauea light house and wildlife refuge. The lighthouse that was originally built in 1913. It served to help ships safely navigate the rugged north shore for 62 years before being deactivated and replaced with an automatic beacon in 1976.

In 1979 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Recently it received a grant to be restored, which is why it's wearing the giant shower curtain in this pic.

We continued up the coast stopping in local shops until we suddenly noticed we were very, very hungry. Between traveling and the days events so far we had worked up quite an appetite. We stopped at a restaurant called the Garden Cafe at Common Grounds that was a little ways off the main road (it seems like most things in Kauai are a little ways off the main road). For anyone looking for good healthy place to eat on the island, this is definitely a great place to go. Their cafe has a seasonal fresh organic menu utilizing produce that they grow on site.


Our last stop before heading back down to the hotel was Makua Beach also known as Tunnels. When conditions are calm this beach is a great place to snorkel and dive. There are tons of fish, sometimes dolphins, and it's a turtle cleaning station. There is a 40' drop off after the reef, and like pretty much all beaches in Kauai currents can be very strong and surgy, so be informed on conditions before entering the water.

We watched the sun set here before heading back to the hotel, making for a very full first day.