Maha'ulepu Trail and Some Horses

Yesterday was our last day on Kauai.  In the morning, Hana and Mom left the hotel early to go on a 2 hour trail ride at CJM Stables, a barn right down the road from the hotel, and Dad and I went on a hike along the Maha'ulepu Trail.

The trailhead is at the end of Shipwrecks Beach in front of the Grand Hyatt.  Convenient, no?

You climb up over the cliff that juts out over the ocean, and then you edge along the craggy coast until you reach Maha'ulepu Beach--about 2.5 miles from the hotel.

The ocean was on our righthand side, and we often stopped along the trail to look down at small inlets. All of them were cradled by lava rock that looked like acid had been poured over them.  Over time, the rock had been beaten down by pounding waves and they look weathered and pocked and melted down.

At certain places, we could see turtles in the water, cresting the waves then dipping back underneath them looking for food.

{on the left you can see CJM Stables, and on the far right, you can see the sliver of beach we are heading for}

{Dad on the trail}

{a coconut vendor enjoying the view}

After we passed the golf course, the trail dipped down and headed towards Maha'ulepu Beach.  Our footpath crossed horse trails.  We knew from the CJM Stables brochure that Mom and Hana's ride would lead them across the beach at some point during the ride.  Dad and I planned on hiking back up to the stables after the beach to wait for Hana and Mom to come in from their ride, and then hitch a ride with them in the rental car back to the hotel.

{Dad at the destination!}

{Dad's victory pose!  I don't know what he's doing...trying to lift off?}

{My victory pose!}

 The beach is like a secret, private beach since it can only be reached by hikers or by tourists with 4 wheel drive.

After walking down the beach a ways, we headed back to the trails and then hiked back up the horse paths leading to the barn.

{CJM Stables}

{the rodeo arena at CJM Stables}

{lots of friendly horsey faces greeted us upon our arrival}

{including this darling new foal and its mama}

{Cowboy guide John Wayne (really his name) leading the riders back to the barn}

{Mom riding Sweetie and Hana on Diamond}

All in all, a successful morning for the Beatys.  After we were reunited, Dad and I got to experience the "charms" of Hana and Mom's cowboy guide.  What a trip.  I'm glad that I missed out on dealing with him for 2 hours.  He seemed loud, rude and abrasive, but according to reviews on Yelp, other customers seemed to adore him.  Oh well, to each their own.

We left the stables to head back to the hotel to pack up for the next part of our packed last day on Kauai.