We had a festive meal at Ama, a ramen restaurant in Hanalei with a lawn that looks out on the mountains (make reservations well in advance). Probably because we spent a lot of time eating! Hanalei has a delicious food-truck scene I particularly loved Fresh Bite’s yummy salads made from local greens. We didn’t make it to the island’s Waimea Canyon on this trip either-a vast Grand Canyon–like region on the west side for hiking. In retrospect, I wish we’d split our time between the two, staying a few nights on each. The north side of the island is rainier and tucked into mist-covered mountains, but the south side is drier and feels like endless summer. If you’re a surfer, you probably know that, in summer, the swells are on Kauai’s south side, so we headed to Poipu one day to check out the rowdy waves at Shipwreck Beach. We spent a day exploring them, landing at Tunnels Beach to snorkel. (Make your reservation and sign up for a shuttle ride to the park here.) Another fun outing was a trip along the road north out of Hanalei, which is packed with stunning beaches. You’ll need a reservation to hike, which is good, because the trail is no longer overloaded with tourists. Definitely pack a picnic lunch and plenty of water. A picturesque beach at the start of the trail called Kee has great snorkeling then, two miles into the trail, you reach another beautiful beach (where swimming isn’t allowed, due unpredictable tides and rip currents) from there it’s another two miles to the waterfall and its freshwater pool, which you can jump into-and will want to-to cool off. It’s freakin’ gorgeous-and steep-with occasional precipitous edges along a sheer cliff dropping hundreds of feet into the turquoise Pacific Ocean. Someone had told me beforehand that this was the hike of a lifetime, and I was like, There’s no way it will live up to that. My favorite outing was a hike to the 300-foot Hanakapiai Falls on the Kalalau Trail, located along the spectacular Na Pali Coast starting in Haena State Park. I’d wake up in the morning and walk a few minutes down the beach into the small town of Hanalei for a fresh vegetable green juice from the Akamai Company stand, then we’d plan an adventure for the day. We found a small VRBO house to rent on Hanalei Bay, on the island’s north shore. In August, my partner and I went to Kauai for the first time. Tasha Zemke, associate managing editor Kauai’s Kalalau Trail is a stunning once-in-a-lifetime experience. (Photo: Mary Turner) Kauai, Hawaii Alpenglow sells climbing gloves for $3, but I brought a pair of my husband’s and, even a size too big, I was glad to have them to grip the steel cable, which can feel wieldy and get hot. It was a lot of fun and even my friends who thought they’d bail initially out of fear felt thrilled by the end. Even little kids can hack it (we saw a brave group of them headed up while we were headed down, which both impressed us and made us feel sheepish). Twice I couldn’t find my footing and my brain started to veer toward panic, but as our guides reminded us (because several of us asked, several times), no one has suffered a fatal accident on these via ferratas since their installation in 2018.
A few of the granite faces felt significant to most of us-and, as someone with short legs, the traverses between gappy points were daunting-but the views over Olympic Valley were spectacular and the whole adventure felt empowering. You’re equipped with a helmet and a harness that clips on a steel cable running the route’s length, and you scale rungs and footholds along the way, ascending 500 feet elevation and then topping out at 7,100 feet before descending in a belay-like manner (which was scarier for me than the ascent). The local outfitter leads two-, three-, and four-hour guided excursions we opted for the three-hour Loophole tour (from $155), which, my thigh muscles agreed later, was the best choice. This summer we settled on Lake Tahoe and spent one beautiful morning on the California side tackling a via ferrata at the Palisades resort, run by Alpenglow Expeditions. My childhood girlfriends and I get together once a year to catch up and spend a long weekend outdoors, usually doing an activity we’d never otherwise do by ourselves. (Photo: Tasha Zemke) Lake Tahoe, California Alpenglow Expeditions’ Loophole route is one of several via ferratas at the Palisades Tahoe resort. From close-to-home adventures to far-flung explorations, here’s where some Outside editors traveled this season, their secret finds, and the gear that made their trips all that much better. This was the summer we all longed to get back out there, despite skyrocketing gas prices and long flight delays.
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