I wonder if I still would have done the Kalalau if I had known you can see views just as amazing – if not more amazing, on an easy half-day hike?

The Kalepa Ridge trail is another ‘unofficial’ hike in Hawaii. Not as illegal as ‘Stairway to Heaven’ on Oahu, but I was still an idiot to blab our plans to the parking warden. I spoke without thinking, to the dismay of my hostel buddies, and the warden told us that we weren’t allowed to do this hike as it’s very dangerous. I said ‘oh..’ and looked dissappointed, or more just ashamed that I had outed us.

Our most-experienced hostel buddy led us to the hike beginning: over a fence. The track is so frequently walked, that we passed two hikers coming the other way as we did this. Unfortunately it was incredibly cloudy as we descended the downhill hike, so it wasn’t really worth taking photos along the way. I had to keep up with the others, after all. Very soon however, you realise why this hike is considered so dangerous. The right-hand side is a steep precipice to – you guessed it – certain death. (But why the Kalalau is not illegal for this same reason, I don’t understand.)

But it’s not all doom and gloom. The views that started to reveal themselves from beneath the clouds are other-worldly, life-alteringly, terrifyingly beautiful.

We waited for the cloud to shift, and waited out one of the heaviest rain showers I have ever been in – all upon the small platform that is the main viewpoint. When the clouds cleared, we were rewarded with this.

I loved how I could SEE Kalalau beach from up here, which is the tiny strip of sand you can see at the bottom. The red hill just above it, was the final painful stretch down to the beach.

The experience was unfortunately tainted by when two of our group explored further along the ridge and out of sight. The rest of us were happy where we were, and weren’t daring enough to continue along the sloping arête of sandy dirt. What we thought would be a casual wait of 10 minutes, became 50 minutes. Concern became worry. Worry became anxiety. Anxiety became silent panic. When we weren’t screaming their names, we stood and sat around in silence, staring out at the views and potentially having the same, panicked thoughts. I tried to think of the best course of action, should they never appear. I burst into tears when they appeared again through the mist. After spending far longer than we planned up there, we headed back. Just as we did, rainbows began to appear.

That amazing view of the Kalalau made this hike a strong highlight of my time in Kauai, even though the view to the left side never revealed itself from underneath the cloud. Hiking ‘unofficially’ is not my favourite – but when in Kauai, and with a group of young, adventurous travelers, sometimes it seems like the only way.