Mount Haleakala

Mount Haleakala (which apparently means "House of the Sun" in Hawaiian) is one of the two volcanoes responsible for creating the island of Maui. The second one does not seem to have an established name: according to our guidebook, it is sometimes called simply "West Maui Mountain", and sometimes "Mount Halemahina" ("House of the Moon", for symmetry with the "House of the Sun") - and sometimes, I suppose, just "Hey, you!"... But it doesn't really matter, because we didn't go there.

Mt. Haleakala, on the other hand, was very prominent in our vacation experience, and with good reason. For one thing, being located in the middle of our, eastern, part of the island, it created a great backdrop for our photos, such as the one on the left.

It is also the bigger and younger of the two volcanoes. The last time it erupted was in 1790, and there are still lava fields and lava tubes all over the place reminding you of the fact. When driving from Kihei all the way south, past the town of Makena, the road will pass through almost 2 miles of lava fields on both sides before terminating at the La Perouse bay. As for lava tubes, we explored one of them on our "road to Hana" trip, but there are quite a few more...

At the top of Mt. Haleakala, there is a huge erosion crater (meaning that the crater was not created during the eruption of the volcano, but rather is a result of gradual erosion) and a national park surrounding it, called Haleakala National Park. It charges an admission fee of $10 per car, which is good for 3 days - for repeated visits to this park, and also to the Ohe'o Gulch ("Seven Sacred Pools") on the road to Hana.

The most popular attraction related to the top of Mt. Haleakala is watching a sunrise from there. In order to do this, you have to get up at around 3 am, drive in the dark to the top of the mountain and then wait in the frigid cold (and in the company of other tourists in search of a spiritual experience) - hoping that the weather cooperates, that there is no rain, and it is not completely overcast. According to the guidebook, if there are no clouds at all, the sunset is not that spectacular either - you need just the right amount, like Goldilocks, and what are the chances of that? Is the experience worth the hassle and the odds? We decided it wasn't, and opted to watch the sunset instead, as described at the end of my Road to Hana post.

Let me say this again: it is very cold and VERY, VERY windy at the top of a mountain in the middle of an ocean.

The summit of Mt. Haleakala is at the altitude of 10,023 ft. The first time we drove to the top, during a sunny and warm day (85F on the beach in South Kihei, where we stayed), I suspected that it might be colder up there and took a light jacket with me. My macho husband decided that he'd be OK without a jacket. Let me tell you, we were neither of us OK... It is about 30 degrees colder and the wind is relentless! Being realistic, we decided to forgo our tentative plans to hike the Sliding Sands trail and just move in short bursts - from the car, to the overlook, to an enclosure if there is one, then back to the car, and so on...

You can get the park maps at the Lower visitor center, soon upon entering the park. The first overlook going up, called Leleiwi overlook, provides a sideways view of the crater and is definitely worth a stop. Keep in mind, however, that you have to walk up from the parking lot to the observation point facing the crater, and that the altitude makes itself felt... I routinely walk four floors up every day at work, without a problem, but here I felt short of breath and had to slow down. After all, you are above the clouds!..

The next stop is the overlook at the Upper visitor center (Kalahaku overlook, which is below that, is accessible only on the way down, because there is a "NO LEFT TURN" sign on the way up). I suppose it is called the Haleakala overlook... anyway, it's the main one, with the best views of the crater.

This is also where the Sliding Sands trail starts (photo 32). The trail goes on for miles, but you don't have to. If you come prepared (with warm clothes, unlike us) you can start along the trail and go as far or as little as you feel like. With the amazing colors and shifting perspectives, even the smallest hike would provide countless photo opportunities...

Actually, you don't even have to go anywhere. With the weather changing every minute, the clouds rolling in or out, the light shifting, it is easy to take almost a hundred photos just from the Haleakala overlook, like we did. What's difficult is sorting through them later, deciding which ones to post...

Another curious thing to see up there is silverswords. This is a plant, endemic to Hawaii, which can live up to 50 years, blooms just once, and basically looks the way it sounds... Here are a few silverswords (some that have bloomed and some that haven't) in the parking lot just below the summit. Incidentally, the local name for silversword, ahinahina, means "gray-gray" (as in, "very-very gray", or "so gray we have to say it twice"). How else would you describe "silver" if you didn't have a separate word for it?

I love Hawaiian language. It only has twelve letters: 'a', 'o', 'u', 'e', 'i', 'h', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'p', and 'w'. I wonder whether there is any correlation between the fact that people in Hawaii are kind, friendly, helpful and laid-back, and that their language does not have any harsh consonants... Since all the words have to be composed of the same 12 letters in different combinations, some of them get pretty long - for example, humuhumunukunukuapua’a, the state fish of Hawaii (we saw tons of them when snorkeling). But I digress...

Up at the summit there is the Science City observatory, which isn't open to the public, and the Puu Ulaula overlook (elevation 10,023 feet, or 3055 meters) very much open to the public, and also to all possible winds from every direction... You can hide in a glass enclosure, only popping outside to take quality photos like this one - the two dark cones visible in the distance, above the clouds, are the tops of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa mountains on the Big Island, almost a hundred miles away...

There are more views of the crater in my album (photos 30 - 48), feel free to look at them on your own. Meanwhile, this is my favorite one - taken from the Haleakala overlook - with the clouds rolling in.

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