Distance: 3.3 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 1280'
Elevation Gain: 1190'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.9
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 20 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Haleilio Road trailhead
Difficulty: Easy
Nounou, aka Sleeping Giant, is the prominent mountain rising above the Wailua River on Kauai, HI. There are trails to the top from the west and east. We parked at the free parking lot for the east trailhead on Haleilio Road. The lot was about half full at 8 AM and had room for 15 cars. The trail was damp, but not too muddy. It switchbacks at low angles to the ridge, then follows it for a few miles to a picnic area. The views got better as we went. From the picnic area, the trail to the summit wasn't signed or obvious. The continuation was on the right, where it dropped to a saddle, then climbed the last 100'. The crux was a 15' class 3 rocky section with good holds. Above that, a short trail went left to the "chin" with the best 360 views. I took some photos there, then took the right trail to the true summit. On top was a cement block with a pipe in it and not much else. Views were somewhat obscured from the summit due to trees. We returned the same way and met a steady stream of hikers going up.
We did that same hike while we were there. Nice views from up top. Slippery when wet.
ReplyDeleteMadison,
DeleteThis was the least muddy trail we hiked during the week. It was damp and a little muddy in places, but nothing like the others we did. We had two mostly dry days at the end of the week.