Vacation in Paradise

Aloha!

We recently traveled to the island of Kaua’i, Hawaii.  We had a great time and loved exploring Hawaii’s oldest island.  Kaua’i is the westernmost island in the chain and is known for its lack of development (supposedly there is a law that you can’t build anything taller than a coconut tree) and is considered the best island for outdoor activities.  We have included a few pictures below, but there were too many to include here, so you can go to our pictures website to view more. (http://adventuresofjackandmegan.shutterfly.com)

We arrived Monday, March 26 into the Lihue airport.  We picked up our rental car- a 2-door, soft-top, 4WD Jeep Wrangler.  We planned to stay on the north shore in the town of Princeville for the first 4 nights at the Westin Princeville.  We immediately fell in love with the north shore; it has beautiful mountainous scenery and dense vegetation.  We thought it would be appropriate to visit a beach first, so we went to the secluded Secret Beach.  It was a great way to start the trip- the beach had beautiful coarse sand and was surrounded by huge vertical cliffs on either side.  Later that evening we visited the Hanalei Dolphin, which is kind of an institution in Kaua’i.  It’s a great open-air restaurant that serves freshly-caught fish and island favorites.  We enjoyed an excellent shrimp ceviche for an appetizer, and Jack had handmade sushi while Megan ate the most delicious shrimp scampi (the so-called “Dolphin Shrimp”) that she has ever eaten in her life.

Secret Beach

On Tuesday, we woke up early since our bodies were still on mainland time (Hawaii is 5 hours behind).  We drove to the gorgeous Hanalei Bay to watch the sunrise over the water and then decided to go for a 4-mile hike on the Kalalau Trail to Hanakapi’ai Beach.  The Kalalau trail is a world-famous, 22-mile round trip hike along the rugged Na Pali coastline that leads to a secluded beach only accessible by boat or by foot.  It is rumored that hippies hike to this beach and camp for months at a time to grow illegal plants and enjoy being nudists.  (Luckily we did not make it this far.)  We did do the initial 4 miles of the hike, which led us to another beach.  On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a local Farmer’s Market and bought a fresh pineapple, a Hawaiian lime (delicious!), two strawberry papayas, a creamy apple (kind of like a soft pear), and a coconut. We also enjoyed our first shaved ice on the island.  It’s a tradition to get a scoop of macadamia nut ice cream at the bottom of your shaved ice…we were skeptical of this idea at first, but soon we became addicted and required a daily visit to the shaved ice stands around the island.

Hanalei Bay overlook

Hiking the Kalalau Trail

On Wednesday, we went to the popular Tunnels Beach for some snorkeling.  We visited a few other beaches before stopping for a burger at Bubba’s burgers (and some shaved ice at our favorite shaved ice stand, Wishing Well.)  In the afternoon, we visited a few beaches off the beaten path- our guidebook had recommended these to us and they did not disappoint!  Both beaches were completely secluded, not a person in sight.  When we got back to the hotel, we enjoyed a Mai-Tai at the poolside bar.  Unfortunately that night the entire island of Kauai lost power (the island’s electricity is supplied by a large diesel generator, which apparently had stopped working), so we all just sat in the dark for the entire evening until the power came back on 5 hours later.  

Tunnels Beach

Sea Lodge Beach- one of our favorites

Thursday was our last full day on the north shore and we hadn’t yet taken a swim in our hotel’s beautiful pools, so we decided to spend the morning poolside.  It didn’t take long though before we started to feel guilty…we were in HAWAII sitting by the POOL…just didn’t feel right with all the amazing things to explore.  So we quickly left and spent the rest of the morning walking around the quaint little Hanalei town, visiting juice bars, and looking through local photographers’ art studios.  We booked a catamaran trip for the afternoon to tour the Na Pali coastline and do some whale watching.  We were expecting some fancy catamaran that served adult beverages, but when we got there we were a little disappointed to find out that it was just a small boat operated by two 20-yr-old beach bums.  Alas, we had a great time snapping photos of the beautiful coastline and getting soaked (through our raincoats) by the boat’s wake, although we did not see any humpback whales.  We returned to the Hanalei Dolphin on Thursday night to enjoy more fresh sushi- it was a great way to say goodbye to the north shore.

Inside a sea cave on the catamaran tour

The beautiful Na Pali coast

On Friday, we moved down to the more populated but sunnier South shore to check out the other parts of the island.  We took the 18-mile drive up the Waimea Canyon, which is described as the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific” by Mark Twain.  The road climbs 4,000 feet in elevation and by the time you reach the top, you feel like you are in the Pacific Northwest with its tall pine trees and cool air.  We ate lunch at the Koke’e Lodge and had several déjà vu moments back to our 6-week national parks trip.  Our guidebook had recommended a 4WD road, and since we had a Jeep, of course we did it.  It was a 5-mile road on top of a ridge that stretched out to the Pacific ocean. We had a few scary moments where we didn’t know if our Jeep would make it out due to the rocky terrain and a smoking radiator, but we were successful in covering our Jeep with mud and we eventually returned safely back to the main road.  The Waimea canyon road ends at the Pu’u O Kila lookout, which is an extraordinary view of the Kalalau Valley.  This view is so uniquely Kaua’i and we were awestruck by its grandeur and beauty.  It was getting late in the afternoon, but being the adventurous people we are, we decided to take an 8-mile roundtrip hike to a cliff overlooking the entire north shore.  This trail can best be described as a large mud pit interspersed with large, mud-covered, slippery boulders that can get ya if you’re not diligent in your hiking.  We had a time limit before dusk though, so we had to speedwalk/jog through most of the trail.  The views at the end were absolutely breathtaking- one of the coolest places we have ever been.  On the way back, Megan slipped and fell a few times and knocked her head on a tree, suffering two small scalp lacerations, but after some quick hemostasis with a bandana, we were back on the trail and made it back to enjoy the sunset.

Our Jeep at the end of Miloli'i Ridge Road

Kalalau Valley

Overlook at the end of our hike- pictures do NOT do this place justice!

We were pretty exhausted on Saturday morning, but we were itching to do some kayaking while on the island, so we booked a 6-hour guided sea kayaking trip.  We saw a few sea turtles and a monk seal, but the endangered humpback whale continued to elude us, even after a 7-mile kayaking trip in the open ocean.  The trip itself offered quite an adventure, however.  The seas were pretty rough and a large wave managed to flip our kayak over (Jack enjoyed this dip in the ocean very much, but Megan, being very afraid of being eaten by a shark in the open ocean, did not find it amusing).  It's difficult to describe the condition of the seas, but to sum it up, our guide (who is a Hawaiian native) flipped his kayak several times in the rough waters and almost drowned trying to swim to shore! Luckily, we all eventually made it back to land and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon with some more shaved ice. 

Sunday was our last full day on the island.  We visited another secluded beach, Donkey Beach, in the morning before going to Maha’ulepu Beach, which was recently named the best beach in America by Outside magazine.  This beach did not disappoint; it offered beautiful views of the surrounding mountains with soft sand and crystal clear water.  We saw an endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal resting on the beach, and even saw humpback whales breaching off the coast! Finally!  We watched the sunset on our last evening off the south coast from the Poipu Beach.

Monk seal resting on the beach

Sunset from Poipu Beach

We had a few hours on Monday morning before our flight departed, so Jack decided to take a surfing lesson in Hanalei Bay.  Megan hung out on the beach and was able to snap a few pictures of Jack riding the waves. We enjoyed our last Hawaiian shaved ice and said goodbye to Kaua’i. 

Hanalei Bay and Pier

My what a big surfboard you have!

Surfing like a pro

Kaua’i is one of those special places that you fall in love with and sticks with you after you leave.  We had an amazing time and can’t wait to return someday.

Mahalo!

Summiting the Dunes

Fortunately, our luck improved after leaving Black Canyon.  The clouds cleared, the sun began to shine, and temperatures began to climb as we started our 3-hour drive southeast toward Great Sand Dunes National Park.  We were excited to find the gorgeous snow-capped mountains of the Sangre de Cristo range and the tallest sand dunes in North America.  On Thursday, we made a climb up the eastern face of the dunes but made a rookie mistake…we decided to make our own path up the dunes instead of following the footsteps of others that had gone before us.  We found ourselves trekking inefficiently from one steep dune to the next without making any upward progress.  (Climbing up huge dunes of sand that sinks beneath your feet is harder than it seems.) It wasn’t long before we tired out and decided to turn back toward the campground.

                               Moose did pretty well hiking up the dunes....

                    ...........but sometimes he had to be carried....

                                      View from our campsite

On Friday, we decided to take the Mosca Pass Trail to go on a bear hunt.  The trail was covered in deep snow that was difficult for Moose to walk in, so we didn’t make it too far before we called it quits (and no, we didn’t find any bears).  Jack decided to scale a mountainside while Megan and Moose rested at the campground and enjoyed the sunshine.  Later that afternoon, we decided to give the dunes another try.  We really wanted to reach the highest dune, appropriately named High Dune, to get some pictures of the top of the dunefield in front of the mountain range.  Plus, we couldn’t start climbing the dunes without getting to the top!  This time we were smarter and decided to follow the tracks of previous hikers. It took us about an hour and a half of tough climbing before we made it to the top, but it was well worth the view.  The winds were calm and we were the only people up there- it was incredible!

                           Almost to the top of High Dune

                      Our little Moose stopped to pose for a picture

                               View from the top

We ended the night with a campfire and s’mores under the stars.  We headed back to Colorado Springs this morning to return our RV and have been enjoying some hiking and microbrews around the city today.  We head back to Texas tomorrow, and we’re planning on making a stop at Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas panhandle on our way home.  Our trip was short but memorable, and we can’t wait for our next adventure!  Stay tuned…

Moose in the Mountains

October 27, 2011

I guess you can say we didn’t get enough time in the National Parks this Spring…because we are BACK!  After a busy summer we decided we would load up our 11-week-old great dane puppy, Moose, and head to Colorado.  Our plan for this trip was to rent an RV in Colorado Springs and drive to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, then on to Great Sand Dunes National Park.

                                   Garden of the Gods Park

On Monday, we arrived in Colorado Springs and stayed the night in a hotel.  We ate pasta take out and watched the Rangers win another World Series Game!  In the morning we went to Garden of the Gods park and walked around for about an hour and took in some beautiful scenery.  After enjoying the beautiful weather, we headed to the RV rental place and picked up our home for the rest of the week.  We both realized immediately that this was a step up from the travel trailer we stayed in for six weeks.  Moose is an awesome traveler and took to the RV with no problems.  

On Tuesday, we drove four hours and arrived at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park outside Gunnison, Colorado in the evening.  We had learned that an extreme cold front was coming that night so we were prepared for an adventure as usual.  When we woke up Wednesday morning there was snow covering everything and a heavy fog was in the air.  This park is known for one of the deepest, narrowest, and most impressive canyons in the world, but with the fog and snow we couldn’t see it even when standing right on the edge of a half-mile-deep ledge.  Snowed in and freezing, we stayed in the RV most of Wednesday.  We read, watched DVD’s on a laptop, drank tea, and slept most of the day away.  That evening, with cabin fever picking away at us, we went for a drive around the canyon.  In a few areas the fog was cleared enough to see the brilliant canyon walls dropping straight down below us.  We took a couple of short hikes with Moose and enjoyed the snow covered wilderness.   Luckily, most of the low-lying clouds had cleared out of the canyon on Thursday morning, so we went on another hike before leaving for Great Sand Dunes National Park.  

                          Standing above the 1/2-mile deep canyon

Snow in Arizona?

Our last National Park destination was Grand Canyon National Park.  It was about a three hour drive to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on Tuesday morning.  The North Rim is the less-visited side of the canyon, so the crowds are few and the view is better because the elevation is 1000 feet higher.  We set up camp and set out to enjoy an express visit of this park since we only had one day.  We took a nice drive to several different overlooks at the edge of the canyon that allowed views from 9000 feet above sea level.  The size of the canyon was amazing, but I think our biggest surprise was that it was COLD!  We were not anticipating Arizona in May to be so chilly, but we never took into account how high the elevation was.  It was also a nice surprise that the North Rim is in a pine forest and is much more scenic then we had thought. 

We called it an early night knowing that we were going to get up early and start our long drive home.  On Wednesday we drove 900 miles and made it all the way to a Texas State Park East of Amarillo.  While driving through Texas that night we saw one of our favorite BBQ places (Rudy’s) and decided to stop and get some dinner to go.  The warm Texas night, Texas country music, and of course the amazing brisket was a great welcome home for us. 

Today we woke up and headed out to complete the final portion of our drive home.  We are about three hours from home and planning one final blog entry to summarize the trip.  Stay tuned for our Top 10 moments of the trip!

 

Zion Canyon

We’ve been in Zion National Park for the past four days.  On Saturday, we explored Zion from end to end and did a couple of short hikes just to get the lay of the land.  Zion is a huge canyon lined with sandstone cliffs that reach over 2,000 feet above the canyon floor.  The canyon was carved by the waters of the Virgin River that continues to run through it today.  We stayed at Watchman Campground with electric hookups…for us this is like living in luxury!  We don’t have to worry about running the generator or conserving the battery, and we can use the electric outlets in the camper to charge our phones and laptops. 

The next morning we were feeling very ambitious.  We chose one of the most strenuous hikes in the park and decided to go for it.  Our destination: Observation Point via an 8-mile roundtrip trail that gains 2100 feet of elevation.  We started from the canyon floor and climbed switchbacks all the way to the top of the steep canyon walls.  At times the trail led us on the sides of cliffs with long drop-offs.  Between the 50-mile per hour wind gusts and the thousand foot drop-offs, we were hugging the cliffs all the way up.  The views from the top were absolutely amazing, albeit windy and sandy.  Much to Jack’s delight, at the very top of the point was a rattlesnake sitting right on the edge of the cliff.  This was the last animal on his checklist, so he was very excited to see it (Megan would’ve been okay without the rattlesnake encounter.) 

 Hiking through a canyon

 The trail drops off hundreds of feet on the right

The rattlesnake

 We made it!

 View of Zion Canyon... we started our hike from that little road at the bottom of the canyon

After enjoying a lunch at the top, we began our descent.  It turns out that descending 2100’ in elevation is not kind to one’s joints; our knees, ankles, and toes were hurting pretty bad by the time we got to the bottom!  We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the campfire.

  

The hike back down

 View of the Virgin River on the hike down

On Monday, we took a short hike on the Pa’rus Trail along the Virgin River.  We spent a couple of hours in the afternoon getting some work done at an internet café in Springdale, the little town outside of the park.  We ended the day reading by the campfire and cooking s’mores.  

Today we are en route to Grand Canyon National Park, our last destination of the trip.  We’ll be staying on the North Rim, which is more remote and less visited than the South Rim of the Canyon.  We’ll have the day to explore and then we’ll be headed back to Texas tomorrow! 

Utah...It's not just for Mormons

Getting into the warm sunshine of Arches National Park on Wednesday night was a nice feeling.  After getting settled into our campground we realized that the only water available had to be filled up into jugs, carried to your camper, and funneled into your water tank.  Since we needed water for bathrooms, showers, dishes, and drinking this required some water gathering trips…but I guess that is part of being in a desert. 

On Wednesday we took a long 7.2-mile hike through Devils Garden that led to Landscape Arch and Double O Arch.  The hike was one of the better we had been on and went through diverse landscapes and challenging elevations.  Seeing arches that had formed over millions of years was fascinating; it’s hard to wrap your mind around all the forces required to form these arches.

                         Double O Arch

 

 Turret Arch

Double Arch

On Thursday morning, we went on a Park Ranger-led hike through the Fiery Furnace area.  This is a maze of rock formations that without intricate knowledge of the area most would get lost in.  The hike was about 3 hours long and required some scaling of boulders, shimmying through tight crevasses in canyons, and of course breathtaking arches along the way.   

Crawling through the Fiery Furnace

 Surprise Arch in the Fiery Furnace

 

 A view of the Fiery Furnace with the LaSal mountains in the background

Later that day we drove to Canyonlands National Park about 30 minutes away.  We decided that since this park was so close, we should check it off our list while we’re in Utah.  It had some nice scenic views and Jack went on a 1 hour hike, but mostly it was just right for a quick drive through and we were glad we didn’t waste a whole trip going to see it.   

 

A view from the rim of Canyonlands

On our way back to Arches we stopped in Moab to hit up the Moab brewery (along with seeing every National Park we are trying to visit as many micro breweries as we can).  After a quick drink we headed back to the park and got ready for a 2.5-mile hike to Delicate Arch at sunset.  Though we had seen many pictures of the arch, it is much more impressive in person.  We watched the sun set on the arch and let our feet rest before descending down what was a steep climb on the way up.  After all of that we were exhausted, but had successfully done everything we had wanted in the park.  

 Delicate Arch

On Friday we drove about six hours to Zion National park.  When we arrived in the afternoon we set up camp and enjoyed relaxing outside in the warm weather.  We have some pretty strenuous hikes planned the next few days so a little rest and relaxation is well called for.  We’ll be back home in Texas in less than a week!