12/8/21
Up early with a plan:
Woke up at 4am with a great idea if Kalalau trail falls through due to weather. If the streams are too swollen to cross and there is too much flooding why not drive to the other side of the island and stay up at Kokee State Park at the top of Waimea.
Back in the day we used to stay up Kokee in a cabin for $25 dollars a night, $5 for fire wood. Great memories of those time with friends and getting all crazy. Puddle jumper for Oahu and we could stay for days as it was so inexpensive. Drive down the hill and play in the waves all day then drive back up and hang out with a campfire and “talk story” all night.
Back to the task at hand: alternative option to Kalalau Trail.Hawaii.gov Division of State Parks https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/parks/kauai/
There are open camp sights available, four nights just in case Kalalau fall through. Funny how the best solutions come to you when sleeping. Gotta love it!
Safe Hawaii Covid-19:
Hawaii Safe Travel: https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel/getting-to-hawaii/
Weeks ago I uploaded all my personal and Covid information (vaccinated and received my booster) to the website. They sent the checkin questionnaire yesterday. I completed it and was rewarded with my QR code so I am ready to go.
Flight Plan:
I am actually flying to Oahu to start my trip. Going to see family for a few days, take a drive to North Shore and eat some great local food.
I am headed to the airport, flying Hawaiian Air, have all my hiking gear in my backpack and it fits great in the Osprey Airporter. Looking forward to seeing how it holds up on the trip. Other than my backpack, Packing pretty light except for electronics; DSL camera, GoPro, Satellite phone, MacBook, iPhone. One carry on is almost completely dedicated to lithium batteries and electronics.
The check in process so quick and easy; did not need to show vaccination card, QR code scanned, checked my backpack and off to security TSA PreCheck line. If you don’t have TSA PreCheck or Clear I highly recommend them. Hawaiian Air has made this process fast and simple. I am very please.
Made it on board, sitting window seat, middle seat is empty and a very nice lady is sitting in the aisle seat. Henry Kapono is playing overhead, I am planning on heading to Dukes while I am on Oahu. Maybe hear Henry Kapono play “Duke’s on Sunday”. Sitting back and relaxing for the flight home as Honolulu City Lights plays in my head.
