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Part 4 – My Favorite Spot at Kalalau Stream

Posted: September 28, 2008

Kalalau Valley is on the leeward side of Kauai and receives only an average of 20 inches of rain per year. Despite the lack of rainfall, Kalalau has no shortage of water. Its source of water is rain that falls on the 4,000 foot mountains over Kokee, seeps into the earth and emerges as gushing springs in the very back of the Kalalau Valley.

While the waterfalls and pools at Big Pool and Ginger Pool are great places to relax and cool off from the heat, my favorite spot along Kalalau Stream is near the mouth of the stream next to the heiau just before the stream flows into the ocean. Giant boulders channel almost the entire stream flow over a small waterfall.

The water flow is so strong at this small waterfall, nicknamed the “jacuzzi”, that it is difficult to tolerate more than a few seconds under the full brunt of the flow. In the photo above Kristin and Thea have a great time under the jacuzzi.

Just before the stream enters the ocean it bends so that the fluted cliffs and towering spires of Kalalau are placed squarely in the background giving the jacuzzi one of the most stunning backdrops along the Na Pali Coast. I took the photo of the jacuzzi above 4 years ago the last time I backpacked to Kalalau.

This spot left such an indelible impression on my mind that I had to return to the jacuzzi on this backpacking trip to take an upright semi-panoramic image made with 4 overlapping shots to capture this striking view. A profuse growth of naupaka kahakai (scaevola sericea) grows along the banks of the stream.

Over the past 3 years I have been perfecting a technique for taking multiple overlapping shots and reconstructing them in the computer to take ultra-wide shots. The image above is made from 8 overlapping photos that captures almost your entire field of vision from a vantage point on a rock in the stream right in front of the jacuzzi. Silvery-gray clumps of ahinahina (artemisia australis) grows amidst the naupaka on the left side of the stream bank.

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This is the 4th blog entry in a series of posts about my Kalalau backpacking adventure with 14 HTMC friends over the Labor Day weekend. The previous (3rd) entry is here and the next (5th) entry is here.

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SOURCES

Native Hawaiian Plants, University of Hawaii, Department of Botany

Northwestern Kaua’i, Recreation Map, Earthwalk Press