The trail starts where the highway ends, just beyond Waikanaloa Cave at Ha‘ena State Park where the sheer cliffs and deep valleys of the Na Pali coast begin.
We stood briefly gazing out on Ke‘e Beach. It was raining. There were puddles on the ground. The leaves of the trees glistened and dripped. We pulled our hoods over our heads.
The trail climbs away from the beach, up boulders and rocks, into the rain forest just beyond where we were standing. And here, at the trailhead, there is a bulletin board and there are signs warning of danger and possible injury, of falling rocks and collapsing ledges and flash floods and crashing waves.
We ignored the signs and began the hike.