My wife and I got some air miles to use, so we figured would check out
Hawaii on thanksgiving. Can anyone recommend a ~4 day backpack in a
non-volcanic area (sulfur dioxide is problematic for me)? I've never
been in a tropical forest before, so it sounds interesting. Is
wilderness experience realistic to find? We don't mind getting wet/
dirty/being cold. We originally looked at Kauai, but then I read that
one constantly has helicopters hovering overhead while in the
"wilderness".
.
Well, do realize that Hawaii is not that big a place. The nice thing about

runcyclexc... at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:2559a4fa-1061-4ac6-b040-fee41fcf9045 at (no spam) o9g2000prg.googlegroups.com...> My wife and I got some air miles to use, so we figured would check out
Hawaii on thanksgiving. Can anyone recommend a ~4 day backpack in a
non-volcanic area (sulfur dioxide is problematic for me)? I've never
been in a tropical forest before, so it sounds interesting. Is
wilderness experience realistic to find? We don't mind getting wet/
dirty/being cold. We originally looked at Kauai, but then I read  that
one constantly has helicopters hovering overhead while in the
"wilderness".
.

Well, do realize that Hawaii is not that big a place.  The nice thing about
those helicopters is that they are not around at night except for
emergencies.  Run a net search to locate suitable trips.  Check out the Moon
books on each island at your local library.  Off hand, I'd say concentrate
on the windward side of the islands - more water availability than on the
leeward side.

My wife and I got some air miles to use, so we figured would check out
Hawaii on thanksgiving. Can anyone recommend a ~4 day backpack in a
non-volcanic area (sulfur dioxide is problematic for me)? I've never
been in a tropical forest before, so it sounds interesting. Is
wilderness experience realistic to find? We don't mind getting wet/
dirty/being cold. We originally looked at Kauai, but then I read that
one constantly has helicopters hovering overhead while in the
"wilderness".

My wife and I got some air miles to use, so we figured would check out
Hawaii on thanksgiving. Can anyone recommend a ~4 day backpack in a
non-volcanic area (sulfur dioxide is problematic for me)? I've never
been in a tropical forest before, so it sounds interesting. Is
wilderness experience realistic to find? We don't mind getting wet/
dirty/being cold. We originally looked at Kauai, but then I read  that
one constantly has helicopters hovering overhead while in the
"wilderness".

On Oct 15, 2:38 pm, "runcyclexc... at (no spam) yahoo.com"

runcyclexc... at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote:
Is there a park in Kauai which is not too strict on permit
reservations, but still worth exploring? I've read about the famous
coast trail there, which sounds attractive, but apparently one has to
wait for 2 days on-site before one can get a permit for overnight
travel.

Waimea Canyon.  Steep, hot, very buggy, but good scenery.  Road
conditions vary, you may need a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get close to
your intended trailhead.

Best overnight backpack in Hawaii might be walking through Haleakala
crater.  We didn't encounter any sulfurous fumes there.  But it's not
the jungle hike that you're requesting; fairly high altitude (parts of
the rim are above 10,000 ft, though the crater floor is lower), and a
rocky, Mars-like landscape.  But there's some interesting plant and
animal life there:  silversword plants, and nenes, flightless geese
which are Hawaii's state bird and highly endangered, partly I imagine
because they'll come walking right up to you (kind of like a mini-
version of the big bird in "Up").  I prefer Kauai to Maui (and the Big
Island to Kauai) but Haleakala to me was the single most spectacular
hike that we did (we also did part of the Kalalau Trail on Kauai's Na
Pali coast).  Going much of the way in and out can be done as a
dayhike, overnight hikes I think need permits.

--MKT

On Oct 16, 1:27 am, mkt <tam... at (no spam) oxy.edu> wrote:



On Oct 15, 2:38 pm, "runcyclexc... at (no spam) yahoo.com"

runcyclexc... at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote:
Is there a park in Kauai which is not too strict on permit
reservations, but still worth exploring? I've read about the famous
coast trail there, which sounds attractive, but apparently one has to
wait for 2 days on-site before one can get a permit for overnight
travel.

Waimea Canyon.  Steep, hot, very buggy, but good scenery.  Road
conditions vary, you may need a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get close to
your intended trailhead.

Best overnight backpack in Hawaii might be walking through Haleakala
crater.  We didn't encounter any sulfurous fumes there.  But it's not
the jungle hike that you're requesting; fairly high altitude (parts of
the rim are above 10,000 ft, though the crater floor is lower), and a
rocky, Mars-like landscape.  But there's some interesting plant and
animal life there:  silversword plants, and nenes, flightless geese
which are Hawaii's state bird and highly endangered, partly I imagine
because they'll come walking right up to you (kind of like a mini-
version of the big bird in "Up").  I prefer Kauai to Maui (and the Big
Island to Kauai) but Haleakala to me was the single most spectacular
hike that we did (we also did part of the Kalalau Trail on Kauai's Na
Pali coast).  Going much of the way in and out can be done as a
dayhike, overnight hikes I think need permits.

--MKT

Waimea Canyon - sounds very interesting! "Buggy" - what kind of bugs?
Misquitos? Or centipedes I keep reading about on the web? I suppose I
can walk the same road as intended for the 4wd to get to the trailhead
- no?

I've looked at Goggle maps to see where Na Pali Coast, Kokee state
park, and Waimea Canyon are. It looks like Waimea Canyon has a road
going all the way through it - is that considered wilderness? Also...
this may sound insane, but... has anyone attempted bush-wacking from
the end of Kalalau Trail in Na Pali Coast State Park to road's end in
Kokee State park?

My wife and I got some air miles to use, so we figured would check out
Hawaii on thanksgiving. Can anyone recommend a ~4 day backpack in a
non-volcanic area (sulfur dioxide is problematic for me)? I've never

been in a tropical forest before, so it sounds interesting.
Is wilderness experience realistic to find? We don't mind getting wet/
dirty/being cold. We originally looked at Kauai, but then I read that
one constantly has helicopters hovering overhead while in the
"wilderness".

On Oct 16, 11:16 pm, "runcyclexc... at (no spam) yahoo.com"

runcyclexc... at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote:
I've looked at Goggle maps to see where Na Pali Coast, Kokee state
park, and Waimea Canyon are. It looks like Waimea Canyon has a road
going all the way through it - is that considered wilderness? Also...
this may sound insane, but... has anyone attempted bush-wacking from
the end of Kalalau Trail in Na Pali Coast State Park to road's end in
Kokee State park?

I don't know if it's been attempted, or accomplished, but it'd be very
tough.  It's not just that the mountainsides are near vertical and
overgrown with vegetation -- reportedly the underlying rocks are
crumbly so getting secure footholds is not guaranteed.

I hadn't realized that is was possible to hike to the summit of
Waialeale, but this group of extreme hikers has been doing so,
gradually mapping out routes.  That might be a better bet, note
however the many cautions they give before undertaking this trek.http://www.waialeale.org/

--MKT

Every bug imaginable. I guess in the really bad parts of Alaska it
gets worse, but Kauai was worse for mosquitos than Alaska IME.  I
stopped trying to count my mosquito bites at 100.  Bring lots of
DEET.  OTOH a bug-screen hat is probably not necessary.

Every bug imaginable. I guess in the really bad parts of Alaska it
gets worse, but Kauai was worse for mosquitos than Alaska IME.  I
stopped trying to count my mosquito bites at 100.  Bring lots of
DEET.  OTOH a bug-screen hat is probably not necessary.

Hmm. My approach to mosquitoes has always been using clothing rather
than DEET, but I've never backpacked in a warm place, so putting on
protective clothing has never been a problem. I guess Hawaii might be
different in that respect.

Decided to hike Na Pali Coast, and then do a couple of day hikes in
the waimea canyon. The Alakai swamp sounds cool, too (it actually is a
part of the Alakai wilderness, at least the map calls it
"wilderness"). Probably going off-trail in the Alakai swamp is crazy,
but some people have done it (see MKT's post).