Sunrise at the top of the world

I woke up at 3:30am today. On purpose. After a quick stop at Zippy's for french toast and hash browns, I made the ~40 mile drive to the summit of Haleakala crater at 10,023 ft. I arrived at the park entrance at 4:45am - and there was a line to pay the fee! There were sooo many cars and tour buses going up to the top. Luckily there weren't cars going down - the roads are narrow and windy, plus it was dark. It took about 30 minutes to get to the summit, and the sun was coloring the sky a bit. I made the mistake of following the cars to the visitor center lot, and not continuing up to the summit lot. If you ever go, turn right at the VC and drive up to the summit. There's a nice little enclosed viewing area. Also, dress warmly! It was about 50 on the summit but extremely windy! I was in jeans, sneakers, an under armor fleece, long sleeve T and jacket. I was warm except for my hands. I would also recommend a hat other than a baseball cap - not only does the brim make taking pictures difficult, but it's not very warm. Better than nothing though!

Anyway, sunrise was beautiful. I climbed to the top of the Pa Ka' oao overlook, where the crowd was sparse (down at the VC it was a mob of people in shorts wrapped in beach towels). The sun came up over the clouds, and you can see the peaks of Mauna Loa & Mauna Kea on the Big Island as well. It was worth losing feeling in my fingers :) Once the sun was up, I got my stamps and decided to hike down into the crater on the Sliding Sands Trail. It was 2.6 miles each way to the first cinder cone, Ka Lu'u o ka' O'o, with an elevation change of about 1500ft. Similar to Angel's Landing, except I did the easy down part first. I'd much rather go up first, then come down at the end when I'm tired. The trail isn't called sliding sands for no reason...the entire trail is covered by 1-3 inches of sand. Imagine hiking up a 2.5 mile sand dune. It was worth it though. Once I reached the cinder cone, I could see old lava rivers and the clouds in one of the gulches. I just sat on a rock, watching the clouds below, with no sounds other than the wind. It was beautiful.

After the hike, which I finished in 3 hours 15 min, I was pretty tired and it was getting close to lunch time. I started to drive down the mountain, and pulled over to eat lunch once the clouds took over the road. Whenever I fly, I always think how fun it would be to be in the clouds. So I got out of the car and walked through the clouds :) Then I spent the rest of the day by the pool, reading and napping. It was a good day!

Peaks of the Big Island in the distance

Up on Pa Ka'oao

Sun peaking over the clouds

Close up of the sun (zoomed in blindly so I didn't burn my retina)

Sunrise

Last night was a full moon, and it was still up in the west as the sun was rising in the east....pretty cool!!

self portrait with not so good aim

Sunrise at the top of the world

Better self portrait with moon and observatory

The top of Haleakala is the 4th best place in the WORLD to view the night sky, hence many observatories and scopes

I think this is the highest I've ever been outside of an airplane

Looking down on Maui & the sugar cane burning

Into the crater

Self portrait in the crater desert

Looking back on where I came from

Made it to the crater!

0.6mi trail to the cinder cone - it looked so close but wasn't

Horseback crater tours - next time I'm doing this!

My leg at the end of the hike - my jeans and sneakers are super dusty

Clouds take over the roads

Maui - Day 1

Today was my first day on Maui. After waiting an excessively long time for my rental car (the woman in front of me insisted on inspecting 3 cars and picking the cleanest), I set out towards Wailea and the South Maui coast. Coming from the Big Island, Maui feels so small and everything feels super close. It took me about 30 minutes to get to La Perouse Bay, at end of 31 past Makena. There is just rocky shore here, but supposedly the snorkeling is good. I took a few pics then headed off to a sandy beach a few miles back up the road. Big Beach is about a mile long, with life guards, and overlooks Kaho'olawe island (uninhabited) and Molokini crater (snorkeling area). It wasn't super crowded when I got there, but the waves were crashing right on the shore so I didn't go in the water. However, some surfers showed up to surf the breaks and I got a couple pretty sweet pictures! After a long period of clouds, I decided to move north again. As I was leaving the beach, two lifeguard vehicles and an ambulance came screaming down the road, so I hope no one got hurt at the beach. Next stop was Po'olenalena Beach, which was quieter, calmer, and offered a view of Lanai. It was a perfect mix of sun, clouds and warm water. I napped a bit, swam a bit and tanned a lot. Then I headed back across the island to check into my hotel, which is right on a little sandy beach, next to a popular windsurfing spot (we are on the windward side). Didn't see any windsurfers today though. After unpacking my things (which felt amazing), I headed to Safeway to grab some Ahi Poke (raw tuna with seaweed, sea salt and green onions), passion-orange-guava juice, and potato wedges for dinner. I drove back to the west side of the island in hopes of catching a sunset. I stopped at Kihei harbor and watched the sun go down over the windfarm on the west maui mountains. The rays of sunshine made for some beautiful pictures. Hopefully from Lahaina on Tuesday I will witness a beautiful ocean sunset! And now I am going to sleep early, because I'm getting up at 3am tomorrow. Why? Not just to begin my transition back to PST, or because fog prevented sunrise on Cadillac Mountain, but to witness the sun rising from the summit of Haleakala mountain, at 10,000ft. Pictures below!

Haleakala from plane

South Maui coast

Uninhabited island offshore

La Perouse Bay

Molokini crater from Big Beach

Surfers

Po'olenalena Beach

Sunset in Kihei

Sunset