Some days you wake up and think, Lets go climb a mountain.
Ok, most people dont ever think like that upon waking up. Including me. Most days when I wake up, Im thinking, Work sucks. Or, Man, I need coffee. Or, Dont the kids realize its a weekend? Or, Why does my back hurt? And why does it hurt there? I didnt even know I had a muscle there. Then I roll over and figure out its because Julies knee was there all night. And she stole the covers again.
What was I talking about? Oh, right. Mountains.
We woke up on the side of a mountain, so it didnt seem that much of a stretch in this case. In spite of my hyper-planner origins, I hadnt specifically planned out each day on Maui. We knew what we wanted to do over the course of the week and figured we had plenty of time to fit it all in. We also knew that some activities were weather-dependent. One of those particular activities was driving to the top of Haleakala. Not much use in doing that if its totally socked in by clouds. On this particular morning, I looked out the window and saw a clear summit. So it was as good a time as any to head on up.
So we piled into the Jeep and set out to conquer Haleakala Mountain.
Theres only one road up the mountain. Heres the sign at the turn where they basically say, Hope you already filled the tank, chump.
The road up to the summit is approximately 22 miles long and takes the better part of an hour to climb. Its one lane in each direction with many, many switchbacks climbing the slope. Every once in a while there will be a pull-out so slow vehicles can let the more adventurous drivers pass.
The drive up is a pretty interesting experience. At a certain point, you climb so high that you begin driving through clouds.
Or you might have to drive through cows. Actually, that could be messy. Better to drive around them.
Eventually you drive across the park boundary and officially enter
Haleakala National Park. This mountain became part of the National Park system in 1916 along with the volcanoes on the big island. In 1961, they were split into separate parks. Haleakala National Park includes the summit and crater area as well as the Kipahulu area along the eastern slopes of the mountain (which well explore later). You can buy a
"Hawaii Tri-Park Annual Pass" that gets you into here and some of the parks on the Big Island. It's the same price as paying separately but admission is good for the whole year. Just for convenience, we got the pass.
Haleakala is a dormant volcano, meaning its still active but sleeping. As plate tectonics shift it further away from the active hot spot under the Pacific Ocean it will eventually die, but geologists seem to think it has one eruption left in her if it follows the normal life-cycle of a volcano. The last eruption was believed to have been in 1790 although recent tests suggest it may have been in the 1600s instead. Haleakala means House Of The Sun in Hawaiian. Legend says the demigod Maui captured the sun and forced it to slow down in order to lengthen the daylight hours on the island. Sunrises and sunsets from the summit are supposed to be spectacular. The summit is also home to the Haleakala Observatory. The clear night air makes for ideal viewing conditions for the night sky.
The road continued up the mountain and got hairier and hairier as we ascended. In several places it felt like we could conceivably drive off the edge of the world. Guardrails are for sissies anyway.
We stopped at the first visitor center for a potty break and a chance to rest my fingers from white-knuckling the steering wheel. Julie seemed glad to let me drive the whole way. We also got our coveted
National Park passport stamp here. Just outside, they had a small garden showing off the silversword plant. This particular species grows on the slopes of Haleakala
and nowhere else in the world. It generally grows for 50 years before sprouting a huge bloom and then dying as it spreads its seed. The Hawaiians call it ahinahina which translates to the clever, creative name of gray-gray.
Onwards and upwards we went, and eventually we reached the summit at 10,023 feet. Thats almost 2 miles high, which means
it can get cold up there, especially if theres no sunlight. Fortunately, we did have the sun, but wed packed sweatshirts just in case and were glad we had them since there was a constant strong breeze. If you do try to see the sunset up there someday, make sure you dress warmly.
The view from the summit is pretty amazing. After that long climb, youre rewarded with a peek inside the crater itself.
Heres a PSA for family pictures. If a family ever asks you to take their picture in front of a famous landmark, theres no rule that says the family MUST be posed directly in the center of the picture. In fact, the photo is usually better if theyre not directly in the center, because they might be blocking the view of whatever it is theyre posing in front of.
And heres an even more basic tip: if youre posing in front of a famous landmark, you might actually want to include that landmark in the photo itself. Instead of, say, leaving it cut off just outside the picture frame.
This is a view looking down from the summit at the House Of The Sun visitor center.
Heres the crater. It was cool watching the clouds pour over the edge of it in the wind.
Conquered the mountain!
Silversword in bloom:
We drove the short distance down to the visitor center and checked out the view from there. The colors in the rocks and soils were more vivid from this location.
Remember how I said the family doesnt need to be in the center of the picture? Sigh. Anyway, it was a little warmer so we could model our brand-spanking-new Aulani souvenirs.
The crater features all sorts of these little cones. Rather than being formed by mini-eruptions, theyve simply formed this way through erosion. You can see the peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the big island, looming above the clouds in the background.
Those little light-brown tracks in the crater are hiking trails. You can spend the entire day hiking in the park or even rent a cabin and spend the night down there.
All in all, we spent about half a day exploring the park. The view from the summit was spectacularthe only negative was that the rest of Maui was under cloud cover beneath us, so we couldnt see the island itself. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the colors and geology of the crater itself.
We stopped at a place called Hosmer Grove on the way down and took a short trail through a wooded area that led to an overlook where you could potentially see some native Hawaiian exotic bird species. And see them we didonly they flew by so fast and were so far away we couldnt really identify them or get any decent pictures. So far all you know, we shot this in our back yard:
Anyway, it was a pleasant walk. You might be shocked to learn we had PB&J for lunch.
It was a Saturday morning with a harrowing drive, a climb up to the top of a volcano, spectacular scenery and views, a National Park passport, and exotic creatures. Just another day in Maui.
Coming Up Next: 5 days in Hawaii and we havent been to the beach yet? We need to fix this.
Soooo funny!
So glad you braved it because the views are spectacular. And I think your family pictures are great. Love the Aulani gear! 
