Kay Travels
Layered red and green ridges of a deep canyon, with low white cloud spilling over the far rim.
Waimea Canyon under the clouds on Labor Day morning.

Labor Day 2012 · Kauai, Hawaii

A Canyon in Hawaii

Three nights on Kauai, on a flight left over from Paris, with shave ice, waterfalls, a canyon and a monk seal.

When
Route
Kapaa → Waimea Canyon → Spouting Horn → Ke'e Beach
Length
6 days, 5 nights

This trip began as a leftover. Our tickets home from Paris came with one more flight within North America, and we were not about to lose it: Los Angeles to Kauai on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. With six of us, we booked two rooms at the Courtyard rather than crowd into one, and the plan was to fly home to San Jose. Then, one morning in June, seats opened up on the Wednesday flight back to Los Angeles, and all six of us moved onto it.

So it was a short one: a drive to Los Angeles, three nights on the island with a rented minivan, and a drive home. In between we reached most corners of the island a road can reach: shave ice, roosters and a waterfall the afternoon we landed, the canyon and the south shore on Labor Day, the end of the road on the north shore the day after, and a sleeping monk seal on the morning we left.

The route

Route of A Canyon in Hawaii Pacific Ocean Kauai from Los Angeles home to Los Angeles 1Kapaa 2Waimea Canyon 3Spouting Horn 4Ke'e Beach 010 mi

Drive Ferry Flight

  1. 1KapaaSep 2–5
  2. 2Waimea CanyonSep 3
  3. 3Spouting HornSep 3
  4. 4Ke'e BeachSep 4

Highlights. Showing 26 of 69 photos.

Day 1

South for the weekend

Saturday of Labor Day weekend meant the long drive down to Los Angeles, so that we could be at the airport first thing the next morning.

Day 2

Shave ice and roosters

1Kapaa

The Hee Fat General Store, a shop on the east side with a gift corner and a shave-ice counter, was our first stop on Kauai: the shelves full of carved wood, aloha shirts and a map of the islands.

A woman with a backpack and a blue cap and a small girl in green walk along a shop-lined sidewalk with palm trees, a Jeep parked at the curb.
A palm-lined sidewalk and a parked Jeep: our first steps on the island.
A table of Hawaiian souvenirs in a gift shop: carved wooden pieces, a map of the islands, aloha shirts and a Hawaii license-plate novelty.
A Hawaii license-plate novelty among the carvings.
A woman with a red backpack and a small girl in green stand under a covered sidewalk beside a sign reading Hee Fat General Store.
Under the covered walk beside the store's sign.

A big yellow-and-white shave ice got eaten on the porch, slowly, before it could melt.

The shop interior: a yellow Shave Ice sign on a green wall, shelves of goods and postcards, and a small girl in green in the aisle.
Postcards, shelves of goods and a yellow Shave Ice sign to steer by.
A woman with a red backpack and a blue cap orders at the counter under the Shave Ice sign while a small girl waits beside jerseys reading Kauai 12.
Ordering under the sign, with Kauai 12 jerseys hanging beside the counter.
A woman with a backpack kneels in a shop doorway, handing a bag to a small girl in green who holds a shave ice; a Shave Ice sign hangs inside.
Handed over in the shop doorway.
A woman kneels in the shop doorway with a red backpack while a small girl in green stands holding a big yellow-and-white shave ice.
Nearly as tall as its owner.
A small girl in green and a woman crouch together on the shop porch while another adult in a blue hat leans over them.
A blue-hatted grown-up crouching in for a closer look.

Roosters were already strolling across the road. Farther on, the twin falls of Opaekaa Falls poured down a green gorge behind a hedge of bougainvillea, and we all lined up at the green railing with the falls at our backs.

A curving road lined with tall palms and a low green lawn; a rooster stands on the verge at the lower left.
A curving road under tall palms, a rooster on the verge.
A wider view of twin falls far off in a green gorge, a rocky brown hill at right and pink and purple bougainvillea in the foreground.
The falls from farther back, a rocky brown hill at the right.
A waterfall in two strands pours down a green, jungle-covered cliff, with bright pink bougainvillea in the foreground.
Two strands of water down a jungle-covered cliff.
An older man, an older woman and a younger woman stand with two small girls in pink and green at a green metal railing, a rocky hill and clouds behind them.
At the overlook, big clouds behind.
A man in a black tee leans on a green railing with two small girls in front of him, big clouds overhead and the falls just visible in the trees behind.
The same railing, the falls just visible in the trees behind.
A rooster crosses a curved asphalt road, with trees and a guardrail behind.
Another rooster, mid-crossing.

Between the falls and the beach, the white minivan sat on a patch of red dirt with more chickens pecking around it, and the Wailua River wound down its valley to the sea.

A green hill and palms above a parking area; a small girl in green walks across the lot toward a white vehicle.
Across the parking lot toward the van, a green hill above.
A small girl in pink stands on a green lawn edged by tall palms, a curving road and boulders behind her and a chicken far off.
A lawn edged with palms, a chicken far off.
The white rented minivan parked on red dirt with its side door open, a man in a purple cap beside it and a woman walking toward the camera; chickens peck in the foreground.
Side door open, chickens underfoot.
A wide green valley with the Wailua River winding through it toward the sea on the horizon under bright cloud.
The river on its way to the sea, bright cloud above.

At Lydgate Beach Park in Wailua we took turns posing at the painted rock, and after that came a good long while of digging in the pale sand under the ironwood trees.

Two adults and two small girls stand around a large boulder painted with the words Lydgate Beach Park and yellow petroglyph shapes, under a windblown tree.
The painted rock, with yellow petroglyph shapes beside the lettering.
An older man and woman stand with two small girls, in green and pink, beside the big boulder painted Lydgate Beach Park under a windblown tree.
The same rock, the next turn.
A sandy path with beach grass leading toward a curved shoreline and breaking surf under puffy clouds.
A sandy path through beach grass toward the surf.
A small girl in green crouches in the sand digging, ironwood trees and a parked car behind her.
Serious digging, ironwoods overhead.
Two small girls in pink and green play in the pale sand beneath spreading ironwood trees; a picnic area is behind them.
The pale sand under the ironwoods, the picnic area behind.
A close view of two small girls in pink and green squatting side by side in the sand.
Squatting side by side, hard at work.

The practical bits American Airlines from LAX to Lihue. A Hertz minivan from the airport. Two rooms for three nights at the Courtyard Kauai at Coconut Beach near Kapaa.

Day 3

Clouds on the ridges

2Waimea Canyon3Spouting Horn1Kapaa

Labor Day began before sunrise, with a pool glowing blue under the palms, a hotel with its windows still lit, and a thin gold line under a stormy sky over the sea.

A swimming pool lit bright blue at night beneath tall coconut palms and heavy dark clouds, the ocean faint behind.
Blue pool light and heavy clouds before the sun.
A multi-storey resort building with lit windows behind a dark garden, tall palms against a dark sky, and the pool glowing blue at the edge of the frame.
Hotel windows still lit, the pool glowing at the edge of the frame.
A long exposure of palms silhouetted against a dark sky in front of the lit hotel wings.
Palms in silhouette against the lit wings.
Dark storm clouds over the sea with a thin band of gold sunrise light on the horizon and dim sand in the foreground.
A thin band of gold under the storm clouds.
A single palm and a small windswept tree in silhouette under a heavy grey cloud bank at first light.
One palm and a windswept tree under a grey bank of cloud.
A stormy dawn sky with a dark cloud mass and a thin red glow low on the horizon behind palm silhouettes.
A red glow low on the horizon behind the palms.

By mid-morning we were on the red dirt above Waimea Canyon, the whole width of the island from Coconut Beach. Cloud lay along the far rim, and mist filled the canyon below the edge.

A broad view from red dirt across dry brown-green canyon country, with cloud lying along the far rim.
First view across the canyon country, cloud along the far rim.
A view down a golden-grass slope into the shadowed canyon, cloud lifting over the rim.
Down a golden-grass slope into the shadowed canyon.
A small girl in a purple jacket stands on a narrow path between eroded red banks; an adult in a white jacket and blue cap walks ahead toward a hazy valley.
A narrow red-dirt path toward a hazy valley.
An adult in a white jacket stands alone on the red-dirt rim, the wide canyon and low cloud behind.
A grown-up in a white jacket, alone on the rim.
A man in a cream shirt stands on the red-dirt rim with the misty canyon behind him.
The canyon in mist below the rim.
A wide view of the canyon with layered red-brown ridges and green gullies, cloud drifting over the rim.
The ridges catching more light a little later.

At the lookout, clouds sat on the ridges, the red walls dropped away below, and a wooden sign gave the elevation as 3,400 feet. We lined up at the wire railing, and again at the sign.

An adult and two small girls in blue walk toward the wooden lookout sign past a green railing and a big shade tree under blue sky.
A green railing and a big shade tree on the way to the sign.
A dirt path lined with a green railing and trees, an adult and two small girls in blue walking along it.
Down the dirt path, two in matching blue.
A man in a cream shirt holds a small girl in blue patterned pants at a railing, canyon and cloud behind.
A lift at the railing, canyon and cloud behind.
Adults and two small girls line up at a wire-mesh railing with layered red canyon walls and low cloud behind them.
Everyone at the wire railing, layered red walls behind.
An older man in a white jacket and a woman in a pink cardigan stand at a green railing looking out over a deep green canyon.
A white jacket and a pink cardigan, looking out over the green.
A woman in a pink cardigan stands at a railing with a small girl in front of her, misty green canyon walls behind.
At the railing, misty green walls behind.
Five adults and children line up at a railing in front of steep green-and-red canyon walls veiled in cloud.
Five of us at the railing, the walls veiled in cloud.
A man in a cream shirt with a small girl in blue on his arm leans on a green railing; steep mist-covered canyon walls behind.
Mist on the steep walls behind the railing.
A moody canyon view: jagged red ridges under low cloud with green in the folds.
Jagged red ridges, green in the folds.
An older man and woman stand with two small girls in matching blue patterned pants on a red-dirt ridge, with green hills and low cloud behind.
Matching blue patterned pants on the red dirt, green hills behind.
Three adults and two small girls stand at a metal railing; behind them, layered red canyon walls disappear into cloud.
Five at the railing as the canyon walls vanish into cloud.
Two adults and two small girls stand on either side of a brown wooden sign reading Waimea Canyon Lookout, Division of State Parks, Elevation 3400 ft.
On either side of the Waimea Canyon Lookout sign.
An older man and woman with two small girls stand at the brown Waimea Canyon Lookout sign, red dirt underfoot and pines behind.
The same sign again, pines behind.
A rooster with black-green tail feathers pecks at dry leaves beside a twisted branch on a red bank.
A rooster picking through dry leaves on the red bank.

Then down to the south shore, where the blowhole at Spouting Horn near Poipu sent spray high over black lava, with red hibiscus along the path.

Red hibiscus flowers on a green hedge in the foreground with black lava rock and deep blue sea beyond.
Red hibiscus on a hedge, black lava and deep blue sea beyond.
A tall plume of white spray bursts from a hole in black lava rock, with deep blue ocean behind.
Spouting Horn in full spray.
Spray bursts up from a black lava shelf in a broad view of ocean and blue sky.
Spray bursting up out of the black lava shelf.
A tall plume of white water erupts from the blowhole with a boat far out on the horizon.
The plume at its tallest, a boat far out on the horizon.

Lunch was at picnic tables in the shade nearby, with the island's chickens walking about underfoot, and then came one more photo at a railing above the sea. The last photograph of the day is a rocky shoreline under big clouds.

People sit at a green picnic table in the shade with lunch bags while roosters and hens walk about the lawn.
Lunch bags on a green picnic table, roosters and hens on the lawn.
A woman in a blue bucket hat and a small girl in a purple cap eat at a picnic table with a paper lunch bag and a drink.
A blue bucket hat and a purple cap at lunch.
People sit at green picnic tables in the shade of palm trees while a rooster and hens wander the grass; a crowd lines a railing by the sea beyond.
Picnic tables under the palms, and a crowd along the seaside railing beyond.
An older man and woman, a younger woman and two small girls pose on an orange-paved viewing platform at a sea railing, other visitors behind.
On the orange-paved viewing platform, other visitors behind.
A black lava shelf with tide pools meeting the deep blue sea under big clouds, a boat far out on the water.
Black lava, tide pools and big clouds: the last photo of the day.

Day 4

The end of the road

1Kapaa4Ke'e Beach

Our last full day on Kauai began with the sky over the sea turning purple and then orange, while two of us stood on the lawn by the water watching the sun break through the clouds.

Purple clouds and a pink glow over the sea, a row of empty lounge chairs on the dark lawn.
Empty lounge chairs on the dark lawn under a pink glow.
Two people stand silhouetted under a leaning tree, watching the sun break through clouds over the sea; a row of empty lounge chairs is beside them.
Two silhouettes under a leaning tree as the sun breaks through.
A warm orange sunrise over the horizon with a line of lounge chairs and a person seated at the far end.
Orange light along the horizon, one person seated at the far end of the chairs.

By late morning we were at the far end of the road on the north shore. On the first rocky stretch of the Kalalau Trail, the palms opened onto a white beach and its reef: Ke'e Beach, with a few people on the sand and surf lines breaking on the reef far out.

A man with a backpack and a woman in a pink top stand on a rocky, root-covered path through jungle.
Roots and rock underfoot on the first stretch of trail.
Looking down through palms and jungle at a curving strip of white sand and shallow turquoise reef water, with surf lines offshore.
The beach and its reef, seen down through the palms.
A wide view over jungle and palms to a curving strip of white sand and turquoise reef water under big clouds.
Turquoise water and a curve of white sand under big clouds.
A close view of the beach curve and turquoise reef seen through palms from above.
The reef, closer.

Day 5

The seal on the beach

1Kapaa

Our last morning on Kauai belonged to a Hawaiian monk seal, asleep at the waterline on the beach at Kapaa. It lay on the golden sand at the edge of the choppy surf, with green mountains along the coast behind it, and it was still there at noon, in the last photograph anyone took on the island.

An open-air lobby with ceiling fans looking out to a patio with red tropical plants, chairs and the ocean beyond.
Ceiling fans and red tropical plants in the open-air lobby, the ocean beyond.
A gray monk seal lies on golden sand at the edge of choppy blue surf, with green mountains along the coast behind.
A gray monk seal asleep at the edge of the surf, green mountains behind.
An empty stretch of footprinted golden sand leading to breaking surf under clouds, a dark shape, the seal, lying at the waterline.
Footprints all over the sand, and the seal still at the waterline.

The flight home was the one that had miraculously opened up in June, in place of the San Jose flight we had first planned.

The practical bits American Airlines from Lihue to Los Angeles in the early afternoon, due in that evening. The Hertz minivan was due back at the Lihue airport at noon.

Day 6

Home by nightfall

Thursday was the drive home from Los Angeles, and we were back by nightfall.