Hawaii: Haleakala
Part 5: Haleakala
(By the way, I figure this will go to just 6 parts.)
I think Haleakala is the feature that sets Maui apart from most pacific islands (the ones we've visited, at least). Haleakala is an actual mountain growing up out of an island, and you can go to the top. It's not a former-mountain, eroded down to a little blip. It's something that looms in the distance from so many sites, and is something you can actually visit.
Haleakala is a giant volcano (technically not extinct, but it's been centuries since any hint of an eruption), with a summit at 10,023 feet. Signs at the top indicate that if you measure from sea level, Haleakala is actually bigger than Mount Everest (photographic proof here). I think that's cheating, but maybe it illlustrates just how big this mountain is. And, consider that Haleakala sits on an island. When you go up it, chances are good that you started the day at less than 100 feet above sea level. So, it's fairly dramatic to get over 10K in just a few hours' drive.
As our guidebook pointed out, Haleakala is commonly referred to as a crater, but that's not technically correct. (read more at wikipedia) It doesn't have a distinctly round crater-shape (like Diamond Head on Oahu, for instance). It's technically some sort of erosion. But, for us non-geologists, it's roughly crater-like. Here's what "the crater" looks like on a mostly cloudy day:
(There were too many clouds on both of our visits this year. We got better shots in 2008.)
Haleakala itself occupies much of the land-mass of Maui. Most people only head up the mountain to see the park, but there are some interesting sights along the way. One we enjoyed this year is the Kula Lavender Farm. The farm is free to visit (they hope you'll buy something of course) and has some gorgeous flowers like these (this hydrangea was the size of a basketball):
Also part-way up Haleakala is the town of Makawao. Cute shops, a little on the new-agey side. But, it does have a lovely glass-blowing shop.
Past these areas (and the town of Kula), it's pretty much nothing but the park. Haleakala is a National Park. There's a $10/car entry fee (which is good for three days*). Yeah, you've got to factor in a rental car & gas, but $10 is a bargain for a place as interesting as this! The highway to the National Park feels like an adventure, with hair-pin turns and expansive views to fields far below. Once you're in to the National Park, though, you realize the adventure has just begun! The road loses the guardrails (um... if a 4 inch curb really going to keep me from plunging to my death?), has quite a few more turns, and gets a lot more narrow. This is one of those moments when I'm very happy the rental car is in Matt's name and I can't drive it!
If you go up Haleakala, be sure to stop at the Leleiwi overlook. It seems to me that most people breeze by this short hike with a parking lot. Their loss. Take the short hike around a corner and there's a viewing area of the entire crater. If it's not cloudy, you might capture a picture like this:
And, if it's cloudy, you might at least get a picture like this, of your friends & family on the edge of the world:
Haleakala is apparently also one of a few places where you can see the "Broken Spectre:" a phenomenon where your own shadow is cast on the clouds below you and you see a rainbow around your body. Here's a picture of a faint one, of Matt.
After about the 20 mile marker, you reach the upper visitor's center. Behind the visitor's center, you can either see great views of the park, or you can huddle for warmth. As you can see, we chose the later during one of our trips this year.
The visitor's center has a short hike, which we did & enjoyed. It also has a longer hike (the Sliding Sands Trail) which Robert did part of. Read about that hike here; it's not for the faint of heart, I don't think.
The short hike takes you up a small hill, which can have views to the crater (or to clouds, as it was for us):
Even on a relatively cloudy day, you may be able to see one or both of the peaks on the Big Island as well. Here's photographic proof.
About a half-mile past the visitor's center is the actual summit. We made it! (You can drive all but the last 20 feet or so.)
From all the pictures I've seen, I believe the summit is a great place for sunrise. However, I don't really want to get up at 3am on my vacation and drive up a mountain road in the dark. So, we've chosen sunset instead. On this trip, there was too much vog & too many clouds for a great sunset, but it's still nice to feel on top of the world.
Other tidbits about Haleakala & Upcountry Maui:
(By the way, I figure this will go to just 6 parts.)
I think Haleakala is the feature that sets Maui apart from most pacific islands (the ones we've visited, at least). Haleakala is an actual mountain growing up out of an island, and you can go to the top. It's not a former-mountain, eroded down to a little blip. It's something that looms in the distance from so many sites, and is something you can actually visit.
Haleakala is a giant volcano (technically not extinct, but it's been centuries since any hint of an eruption), with a summit at 10,023 feet. Signs at the top indicate that if you measure from sea level, Haleakala is actually bigger than Mount Everest (photographic proof here). I think that's cheating, but maybe it illlustrates just how big this mountain is. And, consider that Haleakala sits on an island. When you go up it, chances are good that you started the day at less than 100 feet above sea level. So, it's fairly dramatic to get over 10K in just a few hours' drive.
As our guidebook pointed out, Haleakala is commonly referred to as a crater, but that's not technically correct. (read more at wikipedia) It doesn't have a distinctly round crater-shape (like Diamond Head on Oahu, for instance). It's technically some sort of erosion. But, for us non-geologists, it's roughly crater-like. Here's what "the crater" looks like on a mostly cloudy day:
 |
| From Friday in Maui - Haleakala |
(There were too many clouds on both of our visits this year. We got better shots in 2008.)
Haleakala itself occupies much of the land-mass of Maui. Most people only head up the mountain to see the park, but there are some interesting sights along the way. One we enjoyed this year is the Kula Lavender Farm. The farm is free to visit (they hope you'll buy something of course) and has some gorgeous flowers like these (this hydrangea was the size of a basketball):
 |
| From Friday in Maui - Haleakala |
Also part-way up Haleakala is the town of Makawao. Cute shops, a little on the new-agey side. But, it does have a lovely glass-blowing shop.
Past these areas (and the town of Kula), it's pretty much nothing but the park. Haleakala is a National Park. There's a $10/car entry fee (which is good for three days*). Yeah, you've got to factor in a rental car & gas, but $10 is a bargain for a place as interesting as this! The highway to the National Park feels like an adventure, with hair-pin turns and expansive views to fields far below. Once you're in to the National Park, though, you realize the adventure has just begun! The road loses the guardrails (um... if a 4 inch curb really going to keep me from plunging to my death?), has quite a few more turns, and gets a lot more narrow. This is one of those moments when I'm very happy the rental car is in Matt's name and I can't drive it!
If you go up Haleakala, be sure to stop at the Leleiwi overlook. It seems to me that most people breeze by this short hike with a parking lot. Their loss. Take the short hike around a corner and there's a viewing area of the entire crater. If it's not cloudy, you might capture a picture like this:
 |
| From Friday in Maui - Haleakala |
And, if it's cloudy, you might at least get a picture like this, of your friends & family on the edge of the world:
 |
| From Wednesday (Haleakala again) |
Haleakala is apparently also one of a few places where you can see the "Broken Spectre:" a phenomenon where your own shadow is cast on the clouds below you and you see a rainbow around your body. Here's a picture of a faint one, of Matt.
After about the 20 mile marker, you reach the upper visitor's center. Behind the visitor's center, you can either see great views of the park, or you can huddle for warmth. As you can see, we chose the later during one of our trips this year.
 |
| From Friday in Maui - Haleakala |
The short hike takes you up a small hill, which can have views to the crater (or to clouds, as it was for us):
 |
| From Wednesday (Haleakala again) |
Even on a relatively cloudy day, you may be able to see one or both of the peaks on the Big Island as well. Here's photographic proof.
About a half-mile past the visitor's center is the actual summit. We made it! (You can drive all but the last 20 feet or so.)
 |
| From Wednesday (Haleakala again) |
From all the pictures I've seen, I believe the summit is a great place for sunrise. However, I don't really want to get up at 3am on my vacation and drive up a mountain road in the dark. So, we've chosen sunset instead. On this trip, there was too much vog & too many clouds for a great sunset, but it's still nice to feel on top of the world.
 |
| From Wednesday (Haleakala again) |
Other tidbits about Haleakala & Upcountry Maui:
- There's not a lot of great food upcountry, at least not that we've found. Make your tummy happy and go home thru Pa'ia for dinner.
- Makawao has a nice public parking lot near the library. In May, Makawao is filled with leaves with great purple flowers, several of which bloom near the library. For a cold soda in that town, the liquor store by the library is a pretty good choice. No beverages to be found in the park, so grab some on the way up.
- Even if you don't want to spend money on hand-blown glass, try to visit Hot Island Glass for a demonstration. Interesting stuff if you haven't seen it before. And, they sell a few small bowls which can be good gifts. (At least we thought they were a good gift for Lisa for Christmas last year!)
- Start your trek up Haleakala with at least a mostly-full gas tank. You'll hardly use any fuel on the way down, but you don't want to run out, either.
- Oh, and going down is defintiely a time to use different gears on your car.
- There are observatories at the top of Haleakala. We imagine it's a good place for star-gazing, but haven't tried it ourselves.
posted by Becky Laswell at
9:00 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks for the in depth description of Maui! Made me feel like I was back there. We loved Haleakala-summit and shoreline sections of the park-as well as the road to Hana. I do not get carsick but my two friends do, so I was in charge of sitting in the back, making sandwiches, and reading portions of the marked guidebook. We did not make it around the north end to the world's best banana bread, but did get some awesome stuff on the road to hana. I thought the same thing about the green on the road to Hana, Crayola does not know the meaning of green:)
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Shan in Japan, At
9:57 AM
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