Kaena Point

Trails: Kaena Point
Distance: About 5.2 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: relatively flat
Hiking time: about 3 hours including time just hanging out at the point
Area: Leeward side of island, western most point
Trailhead: Yokohama Bay, end of Farrington Highway on the Leeward Side
Trailhead Coordinates: N21 33.366 W158 14.909
Sights: Kaena Point, the ocean on both sides, possible monk seals, dolphins in the distance, and whales
Directions via bus: Catch the 11 from Alapai Transit Center.

Directions via car: Take H1 west towards Ewa. Follow the highway and it will become Farrington Highway, a local highway. Continue to the end.

Recommendations for hike: Sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, liter of water.
Trail Conditions: This trail is a dirt road that follows the coastline. It's dry and there's no shade. It can be done in slippers. Not very challenging. There's hardly any elevation gain.

Not much variation.

So today, Hillary, Nicole, and I set out to reach Kaena Point from the Leeward side of the island. It's a peaceful hike along the western coast. This side of the island is much dryer and lacks vegetation. There are no trees and little shade along the trail. The trail follows what I believe is Farrington Highway. It used to connect the Leeward and North side of he island  before it was destroyed. A landslide took out part of the road. It starts at Yokohama Bay at the end of Farrington Highway.

The trek was easy and it had some breathtaking views. At Kaena Point you're just surrounded by water in most directions. We saw a monk seal too! In the winter, you can spot whales sometimes.

Looking back from the starting point.

Fortunately, I don't have much to steal

 

Just some views along the coast. The tower in the back is our destination.

 

So at one point, we heard this loud noise. At first I thought it might have been a monk seal or something. After climbing down a bit towards the coast... this was the culprit. Just a blowhole.

So this is where the landslide was that took the road out. Didn't look to safe but Nicole and Hillary proved me wrong. There's a little cavern by that plank of wood.

From the cavern! Pretty cool. Smelled a bit musky but whatever.

Just looking back.

 

Almost there.

A monk seal!!!

A closer view. It didn't wake up yet. We named him/her Shalhoub! We ended up just watching this guy lay out for like 15 mins. Later he got up and bathed in the water a bit. His flippers were tagged with orange tags and had N12 written on. Later Sahlboub.

 

Didn't really expect to see one but here was some info on them.

 

 

 

 

 

So these last series of pics are from a single point. Just various pictures in every direction. It's very peaceful and serene. It really reminded me that I'm on an island thousands of miles from any large body of land. Usually in Waikiki and downtown I don't even think about it. I wonder what it's like there at night. Must be amazing. The sunsets at this end too so I'll probably go back for a sunset.

Hope you enjoyed.