In the first half of 2008, my wife Jacqueline and I spent two days on Hawaii Island (aka the Big Island) in Kona. Nice to go to the Kona, Hawaii temple (we are LDS). We also had time to go hiking. I’ve never hiked in the Kona area, so before our trip I googled “Kona Hawaii hikes” and found information about a 4+ mile hike to Captain James Cook’s monument at Kealakekua Bay.
For those who do not know Hawaiian history, Captain James Cook, who was a European in 1778, was in the Hawaiian Islands, which were inhabited by several hundred thousand Hawaiians at the time. Anyway, Cook was killed in Kealakekua Bay by the Hawaiians who, as some say, thought he and his companions were welcome. Due to the long history of that event, read more here.
http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ccsu2531.htm
We took the trailtrail to Cooke’s monument, which marks a spot on the rocky shore of Kealakekua. The bay near where the commander of the British fleet fell.
From Big Island’s Visitor Mecca, Kailua-Kona, four miles fourteen on the main road. At the sign on the main road for “Kealakekua Bay” we headed straight onto Napoopoo Road. I remembered from my google search that the trailhead is on the right within a hundred yards of the main road on Napoopoo Road. After I passed the initial trailhead, I turned our vehicle around and saw two men who looked like hikers getting ready to run.
We parked our car on the side of Napoopoo Road at a little turnoff right next to the main road and looked to see where the hikers were headed. By doing this, I was able to locate the trailhead. Note that just past the trailhead, a large house has been built (circa Jan 2008). Also note that at the trailhead there is a “Road Closed” sign. See the picture I posted with this report.
Weather wise, the day was not very suitable for hiking as it was light and the passing thunder sounded upslope. But since the weather in this part of the island is usually sunny, I am sure that my wife’s view overhead would improve, and since that never happened, the weather never worsened and we could have a good sail.
The initial mile of the trail is a steady descent that is never steep. The trail passes thru thickets of wheat grass and haole koa, a species of dry tree common in Hawaii. On this part of the hike there isn’t much in the way of views.
After this initial mile, the view of the trail improved somewhat and we got views below of the rugged, rock-strewn coastline. After a long steady descent, the route has two distinct switchbacks. At that point it becomes clear that the switchbacks help to avoid the steep stakes.
Our walk led us to the Cook Monument, a white obelisk about 30 feet tall. Underneath, two boats are anchored, for the nearby waters are conducive to snorkeling, kayaking, and underwater exploration.
A few years ago, my wife and I went on one of these snorkeling cruises, but we couldn’t come to explore the shore, so yesterday’s hike gave us the opportunity to go to this spot, get some exercise and save some money (hiking is free!).
Because we had dinner with friends to attend, my wife and I didn’t stay long in Monument Coco and jumped in the ocean to cool off. But we went back up the steps, about 45 minutes to get back to our car. On the way up we met a hiking party of 8 to 10 people coming down the trail from England.
Our entire hike took us two hours and we now have a lot of Kona area hiking experience under our belts. Next time in Kona we hope to climb the summit of Hualalai (elevation 8271 feet).
