Haleakala National Park- the Northern/ Upper Section

Ten thousand feet above the beaches stands Haleakala Crater. It's massive and usually obscured in clouds. The "thing to do" is get up at about two o'clock in the morning and drive to the summit. From there you witness a mind-altering sunrise, as the sun ascends over the clouds and lights up in a myriad of colors that bring you inches from heaven. After receiving the inner enlightenment one is supposed to then bike down the side of the crater to envelope one's self with the beauty that is Maui.
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We decided to be different. First, we ditched the biking idea for fear that we might sight-see ourselves off a 10,000 foot cliff. Turns out we weren't that far off. Weeks before getting there, the park made biking the top 3000 feet illegal due to injuries. Second, we timed it such that we woke up 3:30 to make it to the summit by 6:30 to catch the 6:55 sunrise. We didn't get there until 6:45, which took some high speed driving that is only possible when you know you're late and you can't see the sure death dropoff beyond the wooden guard rail. It turns out the cool colors come out before the sun rises, from about 6:30 to about 6:45. Third, I think I got frost bite. Yep- on Hawaii. It was cold and the wind was gusting, and I needed to set up the camera and tripod which exposed my hands to the cold. I stuck it out and just as the sun came over the clouds my fingers went tingly. My finger tips still are somewhat numb as a result.

The sun starts to peek out from the clouds below

The pretty colors of the sunrise. Damn it's cold!

Anyhow the sunrise was still pretty damned cool despite my bitterness. The view from the top was something to behold. You could see the top of the volcano on the Big Island and once the clouds cleared you could see other neighboring islands laying next to Maui. I was very happy after I recovered most of the feeling in my fingers. That is, until we went hiking.

Yay for a fantastic view!

Hiking was a bit of an adventure and gave us a new perspective of Maui. Within the Haleakala crater there were multiple cinder cones. To reach the first cinder cone we hiked a 2 mile trail down 1500 feet in elevation. Going down is great- wide views of the crater, views into the cinder cones, different arrays of rock strata and color, and clear thin air.

High above the clouds on our way down to the cinder cone

Sitting on the edge of the colorful cinder cone.

Looking out at the other cinder cones

Panning view of the crater

As we made our way down the trail, we ran into the nene. The nene is a protected bird on Maui. They are pretty stupid and we're pretty sure the reason they became endangered is because they are very lazy and don't move out of the way. Maybe they should have gone the way of the dodo bird?

The nene

We also saw one of the few plants to grow on the crater- the silversword. Unfortunately, they only bloom in the summer so we missed the flowers. These plants take 50 years to mature and once they bloom, they die.

The pretty silversword

Coming back up is a different story. You've already got your pictures. You've seen it all before. You just want to get back up. It turns out the Haleakala trail builders defeated physics by making the return trip twice as long and twice as steep. As we climbed we passed horseback tours heading into the crater... hmmm, probably should have seen that as a sign. But no, we're from Denver dammit! We were used to the altitude. However, those stupid horses let there presence be known such that every out of shape, high altitude of gasp of air was perfumed with horse manure. Awesome!

Post hike we ditched our peanut butter and jelly lunch and opted for a restaurant in the Upcountry and wandered around the shops and galleries. It was away from the water that I actually had the best sushi of the trip in a small deli/ice cream parlor/sushi bar. After it all was said and done the hike and the park are definitely recommended and hopefully the pics reflect how beautiful it is.

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