Stunning 'bucket list' hiking trail is forced to shut down after dozens of visitors mysteriously fall sick

A 'bucket list' hiking trail was forced to shut down after dozens of hikers mysteriously fell ill - including one who had to be flown out after having '50 to 60 episodes of vomiting.' 

The Kalalau Trail in Hawaii has been shut down after at least 37 hikers contracted norovirus that left visitors with severe gastrointestinal symptoms. 

Danielle Ann had to be taken off the trail via helicopter and taken to the hospital after she was left 'about 50-60 episodes of vomiting and 15-20 episodes of what my friend Jeff called 'epic diarrhea,"' she revealed on Facebook. 

'I’m the lucky girl who got medevaced out the morning of 9/1 and brought to the hospital,' she said. 

She started hiking on August 29 and started experiencing vomiting and diarrhea around 1am on September 1. She was evacuated later that morning after her group was able to call a helicopter around 9am. 

'My symptoms had progressed quickly and severely enough that by 4am I was for real telling my partner I was afraid I wouldn’t make it,' she said. 'I don’t know why I got it more severely than the majority of cases I’m aware of.

'I’m an otherwise healthy young adult who happens to have some background in healthcare. With some years witnessing acute illness, I was literally scared - s**tless.' 

She also revealed that eight of the 13 people in her group fell ill. 

The entire 22-mile roundtrip trail will be closed until September 19 as it undergoes testing of the water, soil, and environment, according to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). 

'This is a very concerning and rare occurrence, magnified by the extreme remote nature of the Kalalau Valley,' Division of State Parks Administrator, Curt Cottrell, said in a statement. 'We appreciate the DOH guidance in helping manage and mitigate this isolated outbreak in the hope no one else is exposed or gets sick.' 

The DLNR said: 'All comfort stations along the trail are being cleaned and disinfected.' 

Forrest Liss, of Kauai, was backpacking on Tuesday when some of his group got sick and left the trail , but he figured people were getting sick due to camping. 

'People get sick, but when they start going through the protocols of shutting down the park, [you think] actually this is something a little more serious,' he said, according to a DLNR statement. 

Rangers cleaned the comfort station with bleach multiple times on Thursday. 

'We swept the floor and bleached the whole bathroom, floors, railings, toilets, everything. Waited at least 7 to10 minutes, cleaned everything and did it again and then we wiped everything down with a disinfectant,' DSP Derrick Louis said in a statement.  

Other trails- like the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina - have also reported norovirus due to 'challenges with hand hygiene and sanitation along the trail,' according to the DLNR. 

The Kalalau Trail is covers 11 miles of the Napali Coast and is a 'bucket list hike' for many people, Patti Jette, a spokesperson for the DLNR told SF Gate. 

'For many people, it’s not considered an easy hike; it’s a very challenging hike, both in length and trail difficulty,' she said. 

'We had officers on the ground yesterday monitoring the trail and asking people to leave,' she continued. 'We had officers on the ground yesterday [Wednesday ]monitoring the trail and asking people to leave.'