Late on Thursday we had decided to take stock of our provisions and see if we could stay another day at Kalalau Beach. Our plan was to hike halfway out to the Hanakoa campsite on Friday, then the remainder on Saturday. We determined we could make our provisions work to try to go all the way out on Saturday, or to go half on Saturday and the remainder on Sunday if we needed to. I originally purchased 5 nights of backcountry permits so we could work around potentially poor weather in the early spring but it looks like we will be using it to further enjoy our time here.
As an unexpected bonus day, there was nothing on the agenda. We had a leisurely breakfast, watched the helicopter land beside the beach picking up the maintenance crew, their gear, and removing a bunch of garbage that other campers had left behind.
Most of the people who "live" here are quite friendly, but they amass a fair bit of "stuff" for their little, tent home. I've heard that they bring in a lot by kayak during the summer when you can make landings at the beach. There are many tarps, tents, grills, buckets, and all manner of things. As your max stay is 5 nights when the rangers come through checking for permits they tend to go and hide up the valley. However unattended property is subject to disposal, so I think if the rangers see the same stuff at the same campsite and nobody there, they will remove it. Also there are some inconsiderate hikers that leave a large amount of garbage so that they have lighter packs on the way out. Whichever way it was from, there was a big sling of garbage removed by helicopter.
The morning sun got quite hot, and to not get too toasty on the beach, we rigged up our hiking poles and tarp into a makeshift shelter. It definitely made it much better to run out into the waves and then dry off and repeat, with a bit of shade.
After lunch a light bit of cloud came over and was a welcome reprieve, allowing a quiet bit of reading on our e-readers.
After a short walk we were back for another round of swimming in the ocean and jumping in the waves. The tide was out so the waves were breaking further down the beach where there were some golf ball sized rocks getting thrown towards and away from the beach in the surf. Not wanting to get feet or ankles smashed prior to a big hike out, we didn't stay in the waves for long.
After showering off the salt water in the waterfall, we made our last dinner at Kalalau and watched our last sunset at the beach before getting ready for bed.
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