Day 17 – Hiking in the Clouds

Off we jetted at 5:30 a.m. to met up with Eric, of Hike Kauai With Me, at 7 a.m. to hike the Kahili Ridge Trail.

The day started off sunny at the bottom and an easy trail to begin with.

Then the fun began.

It was a muddy mess with razor ferns grabbing and slashing us as we made our way up.

Still climbing and before the clouds settled in,  we had some lookouts into the valley below and out.

As we climbed higher, the clouds began to move in and surround us.

As we climbed the trail began to narrow.  It was slow going due to my parital fear of going over the edge, slippery mud and steep inclines.

We reached a somewhat level area and we sat down to rehydrate and eat. Our view once  of scenic areas below became a veil of gray.

I opted to stay planted, while Mike and Eric continued on and up.  I knew if I continued on it wouldn’t be fun anymore for me because the trail become treacherous and fear would have stopped me cold when walking on a path 6 inches wide.

The guys continued on and I’ll let the pictures narrate the rest of their adventure.

After 40 minutes the guys appeared out of the clouds.

It was time to get off Kahili Ridge. I didn’t remain upright for most of the way down, this is a rare photo or two of me standing up to walk.

Most of the way was a slide down.

We returned to our cars a bit muddy but really happy after a great hike.

Even though Mother Nature didn’t give us the great views we were hoping for,  we made the best of things and really enjoyed the experience of hiking in the clouds.  Ok, what also helped was hiking with Eric, who is always great company and very knowledgeable about Kauai.  We love spending time with Eric.

This was a short distance hike, but tough on the muscles and a good cardio workout.

On our way home via a backtrack, we went to Salt Pond and jumped in the ocean with our muddy clothes, then we showered and changed into some presentable and non stinky clothes.

We then lunched at Kalaheo Cafe  I had the special of a chicken wrap with avo, sprouts, tomato and bacon and Mike had a chicken pasta salad dish.  Both were outstanding and devoured quickly after our mud adventure in the clouds.

When we returned home, Mike spent time hosing down the clothes, while I jumped in the shower to de mud myself. Yes even after being in the ocean and a shower at the beach, we were still caked in mud.

I spent the afternoon nursing some of my bruises and scraps and napping. While Mike read.

After dinner we strolled down to the sunset.  My friends were sending me photos of their sunsets tonight, one from Cape Cod, one from Utah.  So tonight’s sunset is dedicated to my friends who passed the sunset on to us tonight in Kauai.

It was another adventure filled day for us in Kauai. Hiking with a good friend, being in the clouds and playing in the mud, just part of the life we have in Kauai.

A huge Mahalo to Eric for letting me use some of his photos in this blog post.