We woke up super-early like around 3:00 am and started driving at around 3:45 or 4:00am. The sunrise on that day was at 6:57am. Here is some information about the Haleakala Crater. Stretching across east Maui, Haleakala National Park is home to Haleakala Crater, an active, but not currently erupting volcano, and Maui's highest peak.
Rising over 10,000 feet above sea level, Haleakala's graceful slopes can be seen from just about any point on the island. Haleakala means "House of the sun" in Hawaiian, and legend has it that the demigod Maui lassoed the sun itself from its summit to slow the sun's journey across the skies.
We reached the summit i.e the Puu Ulaula at around 5:30am and there was quite a crowd there. It is very very cold at the summit. And extremely windy too. This is the only place in the world where you can drive on a paved road from sea level to over 10,000 feet in less than 38 miles. The final overlook is Puu Ulaula, at 10,023 feet: the top. The summit rises 10,023 feet above sea level. The crater is 3,000 feet deep, 7.5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide - a total of 22 miles in circumference.
There is nothing in your way here from a 360deg panorama that can, on a clear day, include the other Hawaiian islands: Hawaii, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, and Kahoolawe. Well it was still dark when we got there and all we could see was a brilliantly clear sky and the summit itself felt like another island in the ocean of the clouds. It was a great sight – there was a white bed of clouds below you – and the sky was clear above you. We spoke to the expert at the visitor center and she told us that Haleakala Crater is the fourth best place on earth to watch the sky and the stars. It was pretty amazing. We saw the sun rise which was breathtaking – it was beautiful and then we went on a couple of short hikes to get more of the brilliant views from up above.
We could see the bed of clouds all over the islands, it was pretty bright at the top, but the sun had still not reached the islands yet. It was a sight I can never forget.
Watching all the islands, and the ocean with the clouds on one side, and a rainbow running through it – it is one of the sights I can never forget in my life. It was breathtaking. We started our drive back – believe me it was beautiful. The views that you can get from here are indescribable. We stopped at various points to look at the view and we were just trying to fix that memory in our minds. It’s just way too beautiful to express. We were both silent on our drive back because we were just overwhelmed by the beauty around us.
Below is the picture of the craters - we hiked to this place.
Some more pics of the view on our drive back-
We had breakfast at a place named “Spices” – and were a little sad as we had to get back to the condo and pack up and leave. We had a relaxed breakfast and we reached the condo.Showered and packed – we were ready to check out at around 12:30pm. We checked out and on our way to the airport, stopped at one of the craft fairs on our way. We shopped for some knick knacks – Sush got himself a Hawaiian printed shirt. We left there and stopped at the Kamaole beach for a last peek at the ocean. I was really sad to leave the place and get back to Chicago.
Some last shots of the ocean from the Kamaole beach-
But all good things come to an end – and so did this trip. It was one of the most memorable trips in our life time so far and very special! And – anybody going to Maui, a week is not enough!!
1 comment:
You are right - a week is not enough! But man, that hike in the bamboo woods, I would have been scared to death. I remember how I chased nagendra to return since it was getting 6:00 and that road to hanna , we can never seem to get enough of it.
I enjoyed reading it all & re-living some Maui moments. Its a heavenly place with nature pouring in, in every angle.
Good pics too!
Lastly Hopper's stop sure is a nice one, since it speaks for yourself too - its all about vacation (hopping in a way!)
Wishing you both many more vacation times!
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