The Kauai Experience

posted by admin on Sep 14

Juliana and I and my brother Pat took a drive up the winding road from Waimea to the state park of Kokee. You can now drive all the way to the end of the road (it was blocked for a long time). At the lookout the view was
shrouded by clouds so we took a hike through the Alakai swamps. The trail parallels the edge of the overlook for about a mile. The clouds cleared about 10

 minutes into the hike and the views were just astounding! I have attached some photos to the blog so you can see for yourself. Apparently the Kalalau Valley was one of the first areas to be populated by the Hawaiian people. They used the hillside behind them for protection and shaped the slopes into terraces to farm taro. Taro was the main staple of the early settlers. The root is pounded into a paste called Poi.

We hiked along a boardwalk through the swamps which are a main watershed from Mt. Waialeale (the wettest spot on the earth).  It was fun.  The hike took several hours and would have taken longer if we went all the way to the end.  I understand there is another beautiful view of the Napali Coast when you get there.