Hawaii Part 1

I really want to get pictures up and share about our trip a bit before I forget the details...not that it was a forgettable trip by any means, but life gets busy and I am sure I have lost many brain cells as a mommy!  So I thought I would try to tackle the trip in parts so that I don't feel overwhelmed by all the pictures (only 500, not bad right?!)

The view out our hotel window that greeted us on Thursday morning!

So, I guess I will start from the beginning.  As most of you know, we missed our original flight, there was a time change and we were not alerted of the change and didn't take the time to call and confirm our flight like we usually do.  SO, instead of leaving on Tuesday  night at 10pm, getting to Kauai at 9:30 am the next morning, we flew out of Denver on Wednesday at 11:30am and got into Kauai at 6pm.  It was hard to have missed a full day on the amazing island, but it worked out fine and we enjoyed our evening in Denver, sleeping in a bed instead of the airport!
Wednesday night we arrived in Kauai and had to go shopping for our food and some supplies for our backpacking adventure, then we repacked everything and fell into bed.  Not quite the first night we were dreaming of on the island but it worked out ok and we had been upgraded to an ocean view room, so we did get to enjoy the beautiful ocean while packing.
Thursday morning we got up early and started on our way to the trail.  It was about an hour drive to the beginning of the trail so we got to see some of the island and it was gorgeous!  So lush and just amazing.
We finally got to the trail head and started hiking around 8:30.  We were excited and ready for the day of hiking.  Everything was so beautiful and new.  We met quite a few people on the first two miles of the trail and stopped at the beach 2 miles in for a little rest.  We were greeted by cats on the beach...yep, cats!  It was so funny.  They were very friendly and clean, just living in paradise!

A bit sleepy without our coffee yet, but ready to get going!

Starting out...ready or not here we go!

Two good examples of what the trail was like at first - sometimes rocky, sometimes  flat and easy, always interesting!

First foot dipping in the ocean!  It felt wonderful and reviving!

At "cat beach" as we nicknamed it.

 After we left the beach we did not see many people at all.  The trail got a little smaller and overgrown, winding its way through lots of vegetation and coming up to amazing cliffs overlooking the ocean.  It was breathtaking.  All the flowers, birds, plants, views, all of it was incredible.  We trudged on and on all day, stopping for water breaks, picture taking, and to rest.  For the most part we both felt really great the entire hike and we didn't have any major mishaps and the weather was perfect, so that was a blessing.  (Nate lost two of the three nalgene bottles he brought, but we ended up fine water)

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Sometimes the vegetation felt a little intimidating because of it's size and the way it hung over the trail.

Amazing pink trees.  These blossoms grew out of the bark, so beautiful and unusual.

Taking it all in!

The most dreaded part of the trail for me was "crawlers ledge".  We had done lots of reading about the trail before we left and everything we read talked about this part of the trail.  It lived up to my expectations as far as scariness!  It was about 12 inches wide and on the edge of a cliff.  Now, a lot of the trail is on a cliff edge but there is a lot of vegetation that would stop you if you did happen to fall.  However on this part there is nothing but rocks - rocks that a very nice sign told us were hazardous and may break off causing serious injury or death - great! So as we approached this part of the trail I began to panic inside.  Fear is a real thing, it can be paralyzing and I felt a bit paralyzed by it.  Finally I let some tears fall and just went for it.  I couldn't look down, around or take in any of the views, I just focused on each step and went.  Obviously we made it just fine and I am here living and breathing to tell you about it!  On the way out I was able to walk with confidence, stop and take a picture and even enjoy the views a bit.  Now I didn't do it without any fear just not the gripping paralyzing fear I had felt the first time.  Nate is amazing when it comes to encouraging me and helping me through these hard parts.  He is so patient and attentive, I love that man so much!

He prayed often for me as we were hiking and that was an amazing blessing as well.

My confidence went way down after seeing this sign!

Our first look at crawlers ledge - I nicknamed it the cliffs of insanity!

Catching site of our destination for the first time...SO close yet still so far!

We finally arrived at the end of the trail right in time to see a beautiful sunset!  Total hiking time was 10 hours.  As always, we are slow and steady in our hiking, enjoying the journey (mostly)!

And this was the finish line, amazing and breathtaking!

My love and I feeling relief and so many things, what would I do without him?!

Part 2 coming soon....