Kau Nala Trail

 Calvin and I extended our stay in Oahu by moving to a new place near Pupukea.  Looking for something to do we discovered the Kau Nala Trail just a couple of miles from our place.  This 5 mile loop is mostly through a densely forested preserve and had a well maintained trail.

This is the start of the trail. The first 2 1/2 miles are through a dense forest with a variety of tree species.  The first section is through a grove of paper bark trees.

Most of the trail is along a steep canyon, but it is almost impossible to show how steep it was in a photo. This looks straight down to the canyon floor

Once in a while the canopy would open up

2 1/2 miles was the end of the trail.  At that point you could either turn around and return on the trail or follow a gravel road to make the loop.  We hiked the trail twice. The first time we hiked part of the trail and turned around.  Hiking back was easier than I thought it would be, so the next day we hiked the full trail and did the loop.  The loop was easier hiking on a gravel and paved road, but it wasn't quite a scenic as the forest trail.