Saturday, June 18, 2011

Maui Day 3,Haleakela

                                         Pack horses coming out of the crater.
                                           Silversword plant, these actually look like someone sprayed the silver.
                                          Looking down into the volcano
                                          The cinder cones in the volcano
                                         On the way down.
                                          Shifting sands trail, believe me it was. Pic Below, Harry on the road up, we were above the clouds looking down on the island.

OMG, yesterday was such an experience. We want to see sunrise from the Haleakala Volcano but decided to drive up in the daylight to see how long it took and to scope it out. We knew it would be cold and we did not bring anything warm to wear so had to find a hoodie somewhere, luckly K Mart had some. I had remembered that it was a very windy place from my last visit to Maui but nothing, not even memories prepares you for the WIND. You can barely stand up and walk it blows so hard. But oh what a sight. You drive to the top and at the observation deck it is 10,023 ft above sea level. In total, counting what is beneath the sea Haleakala is actually 600+ ft. higher than Mt. Everest. There are trails all the way thru the crater to the end of the island 13 miles total,camping sites and cabins down in the middle of the crater. We took a short hike into the crater to get a closer view of the cinder cones. It is pretty eerie being in the middle of a volcano, albiet, an extinct one. It was so worth the effort, an experience not to be forgotten. Even tho' I complained the whole climb out LOL. The wind, luckily down in the crater was a lot less than on the top. Looking forward to seeing the sunrise, hopefully tomorrow morning. Even tho' it means getting up at 3am to get there in time. We have been told it is not to be missed. If the photos we saw in the visitors center are any indication, it is true. They are stunning.