HANAKAPI‘AI — Rescue personnel recovered the body of a female hiker Friday morning, after the woman was swept by rising waters while trying to cross Hanakapi‘ai Stream in Na Pali Coast Thursday evening. Additionally, 55 hikers who were stranded overnight
HANAKAPI‘AI — Rescue personnel recovered the body of a female hiker Friday morning, after the woman was swept by rising waters while trying to cross Hanakapi‘ai Stream in Na Pali Coast Thursday evening.
Additionally, 55 hikers who were stranded overnight in Hanakapi‘ai were rescued Friday.
Rescuers from The Kaua‘i Fire Department located the woman’s body further downstream at the mouth of Hanakapi‘ai Stream around 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Her body was airlifted out of the valley, with assistance of Air 1 and lifeguards from the Ocean Safety Bureau.
“Most of the people were advised to shelter in place at a safe place,” said Battalion Fire Chief Jason Ornellas of Rescue 3, citing strong winds, heavy rains and mud leading to the catastrophic conditions on the trail.
The female hiker has not been named pending notification of her family. She is believed to be in her 40s.
Hikers returning from the trail said high winds and heavy rains caused the Hanakapi‘ai Stream to swell.
The female hiker apparently was swept away while trying to cross the stream on her own before help arrived.
Witnesses said rescue crews were already in the area and responded within minutes to the incident.
“It was terrible, miserable conditions,” said Eric Wolfbrandt, 51, of Phoenix, Ariz.
He and his spouse, Myrna, were attempting to return to Ke‘e Beach when they saw a woman attempting to cross Hanakapi‘ai Stream.
Wolfbrandt, who is 5-feet, 10-inches tall, said the water in the stream was up to his chest, so he estimated it was at least four-feet deep.
The woman he saw trying to cross was shorter than him and was struggling to hold on to a rope that had been stretched across the stream to assist hikers with crossings.
“When she started crossing, she was holding on by her fingertips,” he said.
Wolfbrandt said that the rope started stretching as it got wet and the woman was pulled farther and farther out. He grabbed on to the rope to make it taut again, but it was too late.
“Once the water was over her chest, it caught her off-guard,” said Wolfbrandt, adding that he was distraught as the woman vanished down the river.
He said the woman’s husband was already on the other side of the river and came back across, trying desperately to find her, but it was too late.
Wolfbrandt said rescuers were already in the area responding to distress calls and immediately started searching for the woman downstream.
Afterward, Wolfbrandt and his wife spent time consoling the woman’s husband, who was later rescued by fire personnel and escorted out late Thursday night.
Wolfbrandt said they met up with other hikers who had a few small tents. He said he found an old tent on the trail and used it as a tarp at an old shack where several hikers congregated.
“Everyone slept sitting up,” he said. “There was no room to lay down.”
One couple, Dan and Karie Costin, returned to Ke‘e Beach Friday morning and discovered their rental car had been broken into while they were stranded at Hanakapi‘ai overnight.
“They stole a pair of shoes,” said Dan Costin, 32, of San Francisco, Calif.
Karie said the couple brought only granola bars and water bottles for the trek, adding, “We didn’t prepare as well as we could have.”
The couple were taken by helicopter across the stream to a safer location where they could “bunker down” for the night.
“It’s part of the adventure,” she said before heading back to Lihu‘e to exchange their rental car.
Another family was also transported by Air 1 to a safer location.
“There was no way to make it,” said hiker Susan Williamson, 45, of Friday Harbor, Wash., describing how she and four others in her hiking group made it across the stream to an “island” estimated to be 100 feet long and 20 feet wide.
She said the group eventually met up with two first responders who stayed overnight with them.
“That made us feel good,” Williamson said of having rescue personnel with them, despite also having a trained fire rescue expert in her group.
She advised other hikers to follow instructions on the trail.
“When it says don’t cross, don’t do it,” she said. “Conditions change rapidly.”
Rescue
Rescue 3 was already en route on the Air 1 helicopter to search for 55 hikers stranded on the far side of the stream and unable to cross due to a rapid rise in water levels. Initial reports listed between 20 and 54 hikers in distress.
Air 1 and the U.S. Coast Guard conducted an aerial search of the area while lifeguards on Jet Skis searched the shoreline throughout the evening. Nightfall forced rescuers to suspend their efforts until daybreak Friday.
Meanwhile, rescuers attempted to assist stranded hikers in the valley, but the stream’s high water level and strong winds made it difficult for rescuers to safely assist them across, forcing everyone, including two rescue specialists, to stay in the valley overnight.
Rescue specialists flew 10 hikers out of the area via Air 1 while the rest of the group hiked out on their own.
None of the hikers required medical assistance.
Life’s Bridges, a volunteer-based grief counseling service, is assisting the family of the female hiker.
This is the seventh drowning reported on Kaua‘i in the past four weeks.
• Laurie Cicotello, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 257) or business@thegardenisland.com
