Most people take at least two days to comp lete the 22 mile round trip.
Camping at either a stream near the 6 mile mark, or at Kalalau Beach at the end of the trail.
Our plan was to travel fast and light, stopping en route only for photos and to filter water.
So here we are about a half-hour in, we started at 7.
We're already sweating bullets. It's super muggy.
We're expecting a lot of showers today, so I think the trail's going to get pretty slick
which could s low us down a little bit.
But we're hoping to finish in about 6-8 hours maybe.
Of course we brought headlamps and all the 10 essentials just in case.
I've got my inReach GPS because there is no cell service, so if you turn an ankle out
here you're in trouble.
Oh, and there's our first rainbow!
So you do need a permit to go past this 2 mile marker.
That's something that's changed since 2015.
That includes for day-hiking, whether you're camping or not.
And unfortunately, the permits sell out months in advance.
So if you're planning a trip be sure to book your permit before your flight.
So it took us just over 4 hours to get to the end of the trail.
That was with a lot of photo breaks so we're hoping to make up a bit of time on the way back.
But this is beautiful.
It took us a total of 8.5 hours, including just a half-hour at the beach,
for the 22 mile round trip, with over 6,500 feet of elevation gain plus equal descent.
A few days later, we'd return to the coast for a slightly different perspective on the trail.