Author: Ms. Chrissie Kealaonaona

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Koke’e State Park

[print-me do_not_print=”.emoji”]NOTE: If you don’t understand some of my words, please read our post: How to Speak Hawaiian which will tell you what many of my words mean! Mahalo.

KOKE’E
Koke’e is an area on the top of Mt. Waialeale (which is the extinct volcano that made my home island Kaua’i). From Kekaha (my home town) you take Koke’e Road and drive about 45 minutes to the top.
No matter what’s happening down below, the weather changes quickly up here so be prepared and take a jacket as it is usually misty and cool and can even get cold (remember, you’re on the top of volcano where it rains about an inch a day, every day of the year).
Along the scenic drive you’ll stop by lookout areas and look down with birds eye views into Waimea Canyon (the grand canyon of the pacific, 10 miles long and 3,000 feet deep). You may also see wild Liliko’i vines (passionfruit) and the Mokihana bush with very fragrant but bitter green berries which we use to make Lei’s. It is very popular to put in a Lei but it is very hard to find in the jungle so watch carefully.

If you’re very lucky you may even see a very reclusive Hawaiian bird, the Hawaiian pheasant. They sneak around in the jungle and sometimes you’ll see them run across the road or perhaps standing on the side of the road eating seeds and bugs.

At the top you’ll arrive at a the visitors center and park which is a beautiful place with a large meadow big enough for a couple of football games played simultaneously. There is a lodge/visitor center/natural history museum and plenty of room for the biggest gathering. Of course there are island chickens everywhere.

You might even see Nēnē (small Hawaiian geese that look similar to miniature Canada geese) flying by or wandering around in the meadow and park.

If you’re there in October, don’t miss the Hawaiian celebration for Queen Emma of Hawaii.

The park is used for recreation, camping, hiking and hunting.

THE KALALAU VALLEY LOOKOUT
From the visitors center, take the 5 minute drive to the top where you’ll arrive at the Kalalau valley lookout. Here you can look over the Nā Pali Coast which is a huge mountain range on the northwest side of the island. Many movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and Water World were filmed here.

HIKING IN THE PARK
There are SEVEN major hiking trails in Koke’e State Park.
Along these trails you’ll see spectacular views of the ocean, Waimea Canyon, lush jungle forest, and you see the most beautiful flowers, flowering trees and bushes and all of the unbelievably colorful Hawaiian birds.

You may even see wild boar rooting around and tearing up the jungle but WARNING. They are ferocious and can hurt you, even kill you. They are usually afraid of people because the men on my island hunt them, but if you see on, keep your eyes on it and back away. When I was young my uncles would go hunting pigs and goats up there (yes there are wild goats all over the mountains there too) and come home with some very big and mean looking boars. Then my tutu and us girls would prepare them and the men would put them in the imu and later we’d have kalua pork… and they weren’t so scary after that. YUM!

**Things to bring**
* Water (there is no water along the trails)
* Sunscreen (avoid the scorching sun if the day is clear)
* First-Aid (you never know what’s going to happen)
* A Jacket (keep warm if the day is misty or rainy)
* Hiking snacks (just in case)
* Appropriate Hiking Footwear (the trails can be murder on your feet)

TRAILS
* Alakai Swamp.
Since this area gets over 350 inches of rain per year, this is a huge swamp on the top of the volcano. When you hike it be sure to wear the appropriate clothing and take Bug Repellent because the mosquitoes know exactly where you are.

* Awaʻawapuhi Trail
(3.1 miles long One-Way, you gotta hike back so its 6.2 miles total)
This is a beautiful trail through the forest across the top of the mountain. There are occasional vista points where you can look down at the ocean. It is an easy hike for the first part because it’s all downhill, which makes the Pau Hana part even harder because it’s all up hill to go home. This trail connects to the Nu’alolo trail about 3 miles down but beware. If you take this trail your total hike will be about 9 miles long with only what you carry so this is not a novice day hike, you’d better be in shape. There is no water or facilities along this path.

* Kawaikoi Stream Trail
(about 1 3/4 miles long)
The State of Hawai’i says this is the most scenic mountain stream side trail in Hawai’i.
Since it is only 1 3/4 miles long, it is a relatively easy day hike. The stream and jungle are breath taking and the birds and flowers are gorgeous.
It is upstream from “Sugi Grove” and the trail starts about 3/4 of a mile past the Forest Reserve entrance sign on the Mohihi-Camp 10 Road. There are no facilities on this trail.

* Nuʻalolo Cliffs Trail
(a little more than 2 miles long)
This trail is sometimes closed due to dangerous conditions.
About 3 miles down the Awaʻawapuhi Trail you’ll find the entrance to this trail and it meets the main Nuʻalolo Trail between the 3 mile and 3 1/4 mile markers. This trail follows the upper rim of the dangerously steep Nuʻalolo Valley and lets you make a “loop” from the head of Awa’awapuhi Trail back to Koke’e State Park Headquarters.

* Nuʻalolo Trail
(3.8 miles One-Way, so hiking back makes it just under 9 miles)
The trail starts near the Kokee State Park Headquarters and goes through the Ku’ia Natural Area Reserve before reaching the forest reserve. The trail climbs up to 2,234 ft. elevation and ends at a U.S.G.S. survey marker titled “Lolo No. 2”. This trail is an used as an alternate route to the cross over of the Nuʻalolo Cliff Trail to Awa’awapuhi Trail and heavily used by hunters. The end of this trail can be very DANGEROUS so stay inside the safety railings. The steep drop over the cliff to the valley below is about 2,000.

* Pihea Trail
(3.8 miles One-Way so it’s just under 9 miles round trip)
You start this trail at the Puu O Kila Lookout which is at the end of Highway 550. This is a recommended forest reserve trail for scenic views. You’ll see Kauai’s native forest birds and a brief sampling the Alaka’i Wilderness’ terrain and vegetation. This trail is used as an alternate route to the Alaka’i Swamp Trail, which intersects the Pihea Trail just before 1 3/4 mile point. There is a short spur that ends at the Pihea Overlook, the highest point on the rim of Kalalau Valley. Be CAREFUL here. This borders the Alaka’i swamp and wilderness, it is often rainy and muddy. Camping here is by permit only.

* Poomau Canyon Lookout Trail
(.3 miles long)
This short trail starts 1.5 mile beyond the Forest Reserve entrance sign on the Mohihi-Camp 10 Road and leads to a overlook viewing area of Poomau and Waimea Canyons.
It can be closed for dangerous conditions or when maintenance crews are working.

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Why Handmade Soap

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Why Handmade Soap
is better for you than commercial soaps
Especially Handmade soap by “Kauai Girl Soap”

Most of our handmade soaps are made using the cold process form of saponification* where pure, high quality edible vegetable oils are turned into surfactants (soap) and glycerol (glycerin) using sodium hydroxide (lye). Because all of our soap is “handmade, hand-cut” each bar is unique and no two bars are or ever will be identical**. When you buy a bar of soap from Kauai Girl Soap (or are a lucky giftee) no one will ever have an identical bar like yours.

We also make a limited and small amount of French Milled Luxury soap.
(see post: What is French Milled or Triple Milled Soap?)

The way humans have made soap for hundreds of years
There are three processes of soap making. The old world, original process of making soap which is called Cold process. There are also modern take offs of this process called glycerin (clear-opaque bars sometimes referred to as “Melt & Pour”) and liquid or foaming liquid. Cold process, glycerin and liquid soap making is done by using the process of saponification.  Saponification is a strict proportional solution of water and sodium hydroxide [lye] (used for cold process and glycerin soaps) or potassium hydroxide (used for liquid soaps) mixed with more strict portions of natural oils and/or in olden days…animal fats. The sodium hydroxide & water mixture becomes a base catalyst to the oils. It is basically a fuel that by chemical reaction at the molecular level turns the oils into “soap molecules” and “glycerol” and when complete, 100% of the lye is used up, Gone! The finished product is soap molecules (surfactants) and glycerol (glycerin), and no lye. Soaps must have a curing time of six to eight weeks for the chemical reactions to finish. Cold process soaps have the colors and scents added during the mixing period. Once the cold process soap is cured it is beautiful, scented and ready to use. Once the glycerin (clear) and liquid soaps are cured, they are considered a “base”. The glycerin soap base is then ready to be melted down into a liquid and have the magic of colors and scents added. It is then poured into molds for cooling. Since it has already gone through its 6-8 week curing process, it is ready to use once it has cooled back to room temperature. Glycerin based soaps are very high in glycerol (a humectant) and it therefore attracts (PULLS) moisture from the air. It is silky soft and smooth. It is a much softer bar of soap versus cold process and does not last quite as long. All of our finished Glycerin opaque soaps are shrink wrapped to keep them from absorbing moisture from the surrounding air. Their melting point is also much lower than cold process soap and they will melt into liquid blobs if left in hot environments over 110 degrees like a mailbox or car in hot climates.
Our base Kauai Girl cold process Soap is made in the Castile method where we only use pure vegetable oils (mainly pure olive oil with other precious vegetable and nut oils) and no animal fats.
(Also see A brief history of soap making)

Why such a big deal about Glycerin?
Glycerin is a humectant which is basically a molecule that retains and holds in moisture and leaves it behind, in this case on your skin. So our basic handmade soap with its natural glycerol humectant is very beneficial to your skin. The glycerin in our soap also makes our bars a little softer and silky smooth over commercial soap…. PLUS, our more complex Hawaiian-Couture and Natural soaps have more humectants, oils, herbs and conditioners as well…. PLUS, we also superfat our soap (see superfatting below).

Why doesn’t the soap I buy in the store have this much glycerin?
Commercial soap manufacturers make sure all of the oil molecules in their soap turn to surfactants and glycerin. Then they remove the glycerin from their soap to make their soap bars harder so that they last longer and the chemical process to remove the glycerol is just more chemicals and that also makes their soap very drying and harsh.
They sell the glycerin as an additional product to gain more profit.
Our Kauai Girl handmade handcrafted soaps are natural and retain all of the glycerol, and contain absolutely no additional un-natural chemicals that are harmful to your skin.

More benefits when using Kauai Girl Handmade Soaps

Superfatting
Even MORE benefits to Kauai Girl Handmade Soaps.
This is like adding nourishing LOTION to the soap.
Supperfatting is a term used in percentages to indicate an amount of unconverted oil in the finished bar of soap. The recipe is adjusted so that there is a percentage (usually 1 to 10%) of oil that will not be converted to surfactants and glycerol. This leaves a small percentage of skin conditioning oils in the soap. The practice of superfatting is NOT practiced by commercial soap manufacturers. All Kauai Girl soaps are made with a superfatting of 5-8%. We do this by holding out the given percentage of the best skin conditioning oils (olive, canola, sunflower, soybean, cocoa butter, Shea butter, sweet almond, hemp & jojoba) and slowly add them into the mixture after the sodium hydroxide mixture has been mixed at high speed with the main oil ingredients. This means that once we have mixed the lye and oils together at a molecular level the lye solution is dispersed through the existing oil molecules and is already binding to them. The last and best oils are then slowly mixed in by hand to disperse throughout the mixture the Superfatting percentage of, will not be converted into surfactants and glycerol but be available to nourish and condition your skin even more. The percentage may seem low but it is as much as can be left without making the soap oily. Superfatting is just another reason why our bars of soap are so silky smooth to the touch when you unwrap them and nourishing to your skin when you use them.

Natural Safe Colors
Our Hawaiian-Couture and Specialty soap colors are made with, or by mixing natural micas, and/or edible food grade colors, and/or natural mother earth clays, and/or botanical powders into our products. Micas are natural colored minerals from mother earth and because they are natural, light, soft and flexible, they are ground into fine cosmetic powders and used for coloring cosmetics. The liquid coloring’s that we use are all food and lab grade colorants. 

Natural Safe Scents
Our unique scents come from combinations of pure and natural essential oils, fragrance oils and other natural ingredients like herbs and botanicals, which are also additionally beneficial to your skin.

Our NATURAL line of soaps
Our “Natural” line of handcrafted soaps are made with colors that come straight from the earth. Natural clay’s, minerals and botanical powders (made from dried plants/roots/seeds) and the scents all come from nature too which makes our Natural Soaps totally natural and “no chemical” easy on the environment as you rinse them down the drain.

Safe for You and Safe for Mother Earth
Because our soaps’ chemicals, colors and scents are all natural or food based they are not harmful to your skin or mother earth. Most of our ingredients are very beneficial to your skin, hair, nose and body and they rinse down the drain without negative impact on mother earth.

100% Handmade
Our soaps are 100% handmade using traditional and proprietary recipes with lots of love and care. Each batch is meticulously measured, mixed, colored and scented, cut and wrapped by hand. We have modified our recipes to allow the addition of more beneficial skin ingredients such as natural humectants, essential oils, clay’s, botanicals and minerals.

Beauty
We believe that you deserve to pamper yourself as often as possible, so why not make your daily bath or shower a wonderful pampering event. With this goal, we took our original centuries old soap recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation and carefully/scientifically modified them and tested them personally and also with the help of family and friends until we got hugs (not just thumbs up) from everyone. Modifying the recipes also allows us to superfat our soaps and make them even more luxurious to your body and senses.  These recipe changes also allowed us to make them as beautiful as the Hawaiian Sunset I grew up with and ALL FOR YOUR PLEASURE.

Our Promise
If you’re not 100% happy with any of our products we will replace them or give you your money back.

Affordable, Good For You, Good For Mother Earth
Our handmade personal care products are an affordable little luxury that are naturally wonderful for your skin, dreamy to your nose and as you rinse them off, easy on Mother Earth.

*The process of saponification is a chemical reaction between fats and/or oils with an alkali agent (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide). During the process the fats, oils and alkali are all chemically changed into soap and glycerol (glycerin) leaving no trace of the alkali. Depending on the recipe a residual amount of oil may be left over as an additional skin conditioner (this is known as superfatting). The saponification or curing process takes 4 to 8 weeks depending on temperature, humidity and the ingredients used.

Sodium hydroxide, also called caustic soda or lye and is used to make cold process soaps which result in a hard bar of soap. It is extreme toxic in its natural form. It has a violent exothermic reaction when mixed with water (it gives off extreme scalding heat and toxic fumes). It is an extremely caustic metallic base and alkaline corrosive. It is hygroscopic (will absorb moisture from air). When used in soap making, it is a base (or think of it as a fuel) that is completely consumed through the process of saponification and is not found in the finished product.

Potassium hydroxide, also called caustic potash is very corrosive by nature and is hygroscopic (will absorb moisture from air). It is mainly used to make soft and liquid soaps and is not found in the finished product.

**Uniqueness applies to handmade and hand cut soaps. Molded soaps will always be identical in shape but may be unique in internal soap design.

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The Eight Major Hawaiian Islands

The Eight Major Hawaiian Islands Chain
+ One islet and an obscure tiny island
that you probably never heard of
Listed Oldest to Youngest
Island Description
For more information from Wikipedia…Click the Island Name
Lehua
(lay-who-ah)
 This is a very small and uninhabited island formed by the submerged extinct Ni’ihau volcano tuff cone. It is not spoken of regarding the Eight Major Islands but my family talks story about it. It is the north most landmass in the major island chain. It is .7 miles(1.1km) north of Ni’ihau and 17.5 miles (28.1km) northeast of my island of Kaua’i. On a clear day from the road to Koke’e state park (Koke’e Road) behind our house you can see Lehua laying in the pacific ocean. It is a Hawai’i State Wildlife Sanctuary and is therefore off limits to everyone without a special permit. Like Molokini (below), it is a popular destination for scuba diving and snorkeling as only the landmass is restricted. Lehua was also one of the first 5 islands sighted by Captain Cook.LehuaLehua in relationship to Ni'ihau and Kaua'i
Location of Lehua Island (the red dot above) shows Lehua in relation to Niʻihau and Kauaʻi.
Photos Courtesy Wikipedia
Ni’ihau
(nee’ ee-how)		 This is the 1st of the 8 major Hawaiian islands in the northeast portion of the chain. It is known as “The Forbidden Isle“.  It is in Kaua’i county and is owned by the Robinson family foundation. It is home to about 170 native Hawaiians who live off-the-grid the old Hawaiian way. The island is generally off-limits to all but full native Hawaiians, relatives of the island’s owners (the Robinsons), U.S. Navy personnel, government officials and invited guests, giving it the nickname “The Forbidden Isle”. However anyone may boat, scuba and fish in the surrounding waters. This is where my full blooded Hawaiian great grandma Moha KAIWI-AHU’ULAONALI’I came from.

 
Kaua’i
(Kaw-va’ ee)		 This is the 2nd and oldest public island of the 8 major Hawaiian islands. Its capital city Lihui is the county seat of Kaua’i county. It is known as “The Garden Isle” because it is so lush with foliage and beauty brought by the rains of Mt Waialeale. The top of Kaua’i is Mt. Waialeale which is the 8th wettest place on earth with 9763mm (385 inches) of rain per year. Waialeale means “overflowing water”. In the middle of Waimea where I went to highschool, there is a statue/monument to Captain Cook where he originally landed on my island when he discovered the Hawaiian islands.

 
O’ahu
(oh’ ah-hoo)		 This is the 3rd of the 8 major Hawaiian islands and is known as “The Gathering Place“.  It is also it’s own Hawaiian county, Oahu county. It is the home of Pearl Harbor, Punch bowl, the Polynesian Cultural Center,  and its biggest and most famous Hawaiian city is Honolulu with the most famous beach in Honolulu, you guessed it Waikiki. It is also home to the Kualoa Ranch (Originally settled by Tahitian chief Laʻa-mai-kahiki and then the Kings Kamehameha’s old ranch and now a movie and TV set) most of which you can visit as a tourist.

 
Moloka’i
(Molo-ka’ ee)		 The 4th of the 8 major Hawaiian islands and is known as “The Friendly Isle“.  It is in Māui county. This island is said to have the powers of fertility. It is the 5th largest of the main islands but much of its land is unusable. It is home to Moloka’i ranch of pineapple and cattle. On the north is the Kalaupapa peninsula where you can hike down a steep path, under towing cliffs and find the Kalaupapa National Historic Park of the former leper colony “Kalawao” which was closed in 1969.

 
Lana’i
(La-na’ ee)		 The 5th of the 8 major Hawaiian islands and the 6th largest. It is known as “The Pineapple Isle” and is in Māui county. It has the smallest publicly accessible land of all of the inhabited islands. There is one school serving the entire island from kindergarten to 12th grade. All of its landmarks are only accessible via 4 wheel drive. All roads are dirt and there are no traffic lights on the island.

 
Māui
(Mah-wee)		 The 6th of the 8 major Hawaiian islands and known as “The Valley Isle“. It is the second largest of the Hawaiian islands and is one of the major tourist islands in the chain. Half of Māui’s land is within 5 miles of coastline and of course it is Māui county.

 
Molokini
(Molo-kee-nee)
islet		 The Molokini crater is a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater which forms a small, uninhabited islet located in Māui County in the Alalakeiki Channel between the islands of Māui and Kahoʻolawe.  It has an area of only 23 acres,  is .4 miles (.6km) long and is 161 feet(50m) at its tallest point. It is so small it does not normally show up on any satellite photographs. It is a popular tourist attraction for scuba diving and snorkeling and its walls protect divers/swimmers from the very swift current of the Alalakeiki channel.

Molokini
Photo Courtesy Wikipedia
Kaho’olawe
(ka-hoe’-o-law-vey)		 This is the 7th and smallest of the 8 major Hawaiian islands. As of 2010 it is uninhabited due to it’s lack of fresh water. It is in Māui county and is only 7 miles southwest of Māui and is only 11 miles long by 6 miles wide. It is known as “The Target Isle” because during WWII it was used by the US Armed forces as a training, bombing and targeting range.
Hawai’i
(Haw-vy’-ee)		 This is the 8th, last and most southeast island of the Hawaiian island chain. It is the largest of all of the Hawaiian Islands and is bigger than all of the other Hawaiian islands in the archipelago combined. It has the only two remaining dairy farms in the islands. It is the 3rd largest island in all of Polynesia, the two biggest being in New Zealand. It is known as the “Big Island” and has 4 inactive volcano’s  Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualālei, Mauna Loa (which was still the biggest, about 50% of the entire island) and the newest and still very ACTIVE shield volcano, the famous “Kīlauea (kill-low-ay-ah)“. This islands name also names the entire chain of 136 islands that is about 1,500 miles long stretching from this island toward Japan. 7 of the 8 major islands are inhabited and the remaining 129 are uninhabited small islets, atolls and coral reefs. The 8 major Hawaiian islands are the last southeast 300 miles of that chain.