Haleakala

      We had a great day going up to the top of Haleakala today (the photo on the right is of Beth at the summit, bundled up as it was chilly). We left the condo by about 8:30 and were gone for 8 hours. We had to drive to north central Maui again to catch the Haleakala Highway east of Kahului and then begin the ascent, which is apparently the steepest in the world, rising to above 10,000 feet over 38 miles. It is quite a road - well-paved but with no shoulder, and while the first part had some guardrails, once you enter the National Park you're just driving right along the edge of a sheer drop (so obviously the driver has to maintain a sharp focus). Also, you're literally driving into the clouds - we had great weather for the day, with bright sunshine as we drove up. We used the Shaka Guide app again which had great commentary and suggestions.
      Our first stop was just inside the Park gates where we hiked around Hosmer Grove, which is the remains of an experimental area where non-native trees (such as eucalyptus from Australia) were planted, to see how well they adapted to the Hawaiian environment. As we continued our drive up the mountain we were surprised to see several bikers actually riding up the road! (we had seen some groups of bikes coming down, outside of the Park, as bike tours are no longer allowed on Park grounds after a third fatal accident in 2007)
      Our second hike was at Leleiwi Overlook, which from the parking lot looks like you walk off the earth! But it leads to a stony path with a pretty good incline and ends with a spectacular view of the crater. With the thinner air at this elevation Beth did find the uphill climb to be a bit more of a challenge, stopping along the way to catch her breath. The crater of Haleakala doesn't look like what most people imagine when they think about a volcano as it's so big (apparently the island of Manhattan could sit inside of it). Still, when you look down into the crater from the height we were at, it was incredible. Since it's been dormant for over 400 years there is actually lots of green vegetation growing inside of it. It was also full of clouds and you could even see the clouds form and rise over top of the lip.
      When we got to the Visitor Center just below the summit we sat in the car to eat our sandwiches before looking around that area. We decided not to partake in any of the trails around there and made the short drive to the top of the mountain, where we took in the awesome views. There were lots of clouds below us so you couldn't see into the distance very well. The temperature was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit with a brisk wind to make it feel even cooler.
      Then we headed back down the windy road (with lots of what they call switchbacks) and it seemed to take quite a long time to descend. We also ran into rain part way down and it continued until we were almost back to Kahului. We took a side trip into a 'cowboy' town (founded by cattle ranchers) called Makawoa but didn't get out, and ended up in a traffic jam so we just turned around. We also visited Hookipa Beach about 5 miles east of Kahului as it's renowned for its surfing, but when we got there nobody was in the water and signs on the beach indicated the surf conditions were too dangerous. However there was a crowd of people at one end of the beach and when we walked over to see why, we saw that there were about 150 huge sea turtles laying on the shore!