2023 - Here I come: Gear Adjustments and Tips 

It’s confirmed: With permits successfully secured, I’ll be heading back into paradise this summer! (Despite having been mentally prepared for long and potentially repeated hours late at night trying to obtain the coveted permits, I scored and was able to get them within only a few minutes on the first night! For tips on how to approach getting permits, check my video course.)

This is always an important moment in the life of the Kalalau adventurer as now the timeline is fixed and it makes sense for final preparations to be made. As I think about the beach, the final destination and reward of this challenging hike, I can almost smell the breeze and hear the birds. It’s getting real and the excitement grows with every passing day!

Once again, it feels like the stars needed to align for the adventure to become reality again: It’s not only the permits that make this challenging; it’s aligning work schedules, vacation times, school holidays, accommodations, and - in recent years - COVID restrictions. (Hopefully, the days of the Hanalei landslide and road restrictions are behind us for good.) And let’s not forget about personal fitness, health, and injuries. So suffice it to say, for Kalalau to happen, a lot of things need to line up, and they do at this point!

As I’m within 90 days of the hike now, my focus now shifts to a few different areas:

First, there is the training and physical preparation. I’m somewhat of an extreme case as I already exercise 365 days a year without fail, so I’d call myself “in pretty good shape”. But now I will shift my workouts to focus more on my lower buddy and also include more long-distance and endurance challenges. I might also throw in a few hot yoga sessions to be ready for warm and humid conditions. At the same time, I will go easier on exercises more likely to result in injury (in my case this means fewer martial arts workouts) to avoid any mishaps. Lastly, I’ll be sure to condition my ankles and stabilizer muscles by including exercises on uneven terrain such as trail running. (I don’t like hiking boots due to their weight and because they tend to make my feet hot, so I’m relying on my muscles and tendons to help stabilize me on the gnarly trail.)

Second, there’s the gear. Luckily, I’ve not had any issues with my existing gear per se, but there are always additional considerations and optimizations. (And yeah, I’m a little bit of a gear junky.) Of course, there’s always the weight issue and most everyone is trying to shave additional ounces off their gear. So here are some of the changes I’m making this year:

I’m going for lighter, but still sturdy, poles. (If you haven’t already heard: good trekking poles on this hike are essential!) I’ll be able to shave off 1/3 of the weight by going with these Zpacks carbon fiber poles.

I’m also switching my headlamp out. While my new one will also be lighter as well as brighter than the old one, the main reason for switching is moving from battery-powered to rechargeable. This will allow me to skip the extra backup batteries, which will save me about 1 oz of weight in total. Not much, but every ounce counts. Overall, I’m trying to move away from and avoid schlepping any batteries. Except for my trusty Steripen, I’m now basically done with batteries. Of course, that makes my rechargeable battery pack even more critical.

On my last trip, I had to use my first aid kit for the first time due to some minor bleeding and noticed that a number of medications had already expired. So I replaced the first aid kit to make sure I have non-expired emergency supplies. Also good to review what’s in it and know what I have to work with. I’m also replacing a small paper handbook with PDF files with wilderness first aid instructions downloaded to my phone instead. Another few grams saved!

Since there’s typically a consistent wind in camp at Kalalau Beach, I’ve been trying different ways to shield my stove from it, so I use less fuel when boiling my water. While fuel consumption is not a big problem, especially on shorter trips, I’ll be trying out a new accessory this time around: a lightweight windscreen. The reviews seem positive, so I’m giving this thing a shot.

Related to stove: Since I’ve accumulated a number of now partially filled gas cartridges over the years, I invested in a new device called FlipFuel, which should allow me to consolidate fuel and transfer remaining fuel to a single cartridge before my hike. This could also come in handy if there were a fuel cartridge shortage on island, which is not completely unheard of. I’m looking forward to trying this little gadget out very soon to see if it works as advertised.

There are a few items I was considering changing but ended up deciding against it: My backpack is not the lightest but very comfortable and a good compromise between weight and organization (plenty of compartments). My rain jacket is fairly old now and I was considering upgrading it, but I have actually never needed to wear it on the hike and it turns out that it’s just as light as some of the current ultralight models.

Lastly, there are also a few other tweaks I’m making this year:

First and foremost, I’m trying to avoid weekends at Kalalau Beach, especially Fridays and Saturdays. From my observations, those seem to be the days when more “boat people” (don’t get me started!) get dropped off whereas weekdays seem to be quieter from that perspective. So this year, I’ll be sure to arrive only Sunday afternoon to avoid those folks as much as possible.

I’m also going to try for 5 nights this time (up from 4) with the last night in Hanakoa, which I tried last year as well and enjoyed more than I thought I would. Let’s see how it goes. The only downside of adding a day is having to bring more food which will add additional weight.

Last year, I noticed my iPhone compass being up to 80 degrees off, which caused me some confusion. Somewhat disappointing (I’m looking at you, Apple!) even though it’s a very recent model iPhone. (I am not bringing a dedicated GPS any more.) Since then I learned from talking to Apple Support that there is a calibration procedure which I’ll use to make sure the internal compass works as intended.

Lastly, apart from the main hikes in and out, I had been using my Keen water sandals for exploring and hikes into the valley. I love those sandals, however, there were two very specific spots where I started getting blisters from rubbing (probably exasperated by sand). This year, I’ll be sure to condition my feet by wearing those sandals ahead of time more extensively, so my feet are used to them and have time to develop calluses in these locations.

Exciting times are ahead and I can’t wait for my time in Kalalau to arrive again this year. Hopefully, with a few minor gear upgrades, adjustments, and tinkering, I can apply recent learnings and make my time there even more awesome!

 

(For general recommendations with regards to gear, check out my gear page.)