Jet-Lagging up Mt. Haleakala

Our plan for Day 2 (should I say so myself) was a good one and was designed to take advantage of our jet-lagged impulse to wake up early. One activity that came highly recommended was to ascend the Haleakala Volcano to view the sunrise. Unfortunately (though we realized before we tried to set out or make plans), to enter the Park between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. (necessary for the viewing) you need reservations in advance. We decided to avoid the stress of trying to “get there in time” and just headed out when we were ready. In the end, we left our condo a bit after 6. On our walk to the car, we saw many small lizards scurrying around - and began to call them TLFs (Tiny Lizard Friends). Calling them out became a fun "game" through the day and the rest of our trip.

Our first stop was in Makawao, a small town on the way to the volcano. There is a small doughnut shop there, Komoda Store and Bakery, that we were excited to try out. Unfortunately, they were closed on Wednesdays (this was the biggest let-down of the day, and who knew?!). For reference, we heard from locals that sometimes they “just sell out,” so if you want to go, earlier is better – and not on Wednesdays. Instead we dinned at a small coffee shop, Sip Me, down the street. The food was fine and the coffee was good, but overall it was mostly just convenient.

From here our real drive towards Haleakala began. The 10,000-foot ascent pretty much began and just didn’t stop. Switchbacks were constant and necessary and the turns were tight. Most of this drive was between 15 and 25 miles per hour, but the speed and directional changes were constant. I cannot emphasize enough that you consider who is driving, who is riding, and who has the potential to get car sick. The opportunities to stop are limited and the road demands focus. Meanwhile, you should be prepared for frequent bike tours descending down the other side of the road. All that said, the drive takes you through some phenomenal scenery. The view over the rest of Maui was constantly growing, the path led through frequent dense clusters of Eucalyptus forests, and eventually through gathering cloud layers. The total climb to the summit took about an hour.

The summit of the volcano sits at a height of 10,023 feet. The view could not be beat. Hawaii’s big island was silhouetted in the distance and the entirety of Maui was laid out beneath you. The red and brown volcanic rock looked endless as you looked downwards into the massive crater before dropping off into the nothingness of the white clouds. It was easy to imagine that before technology, Hawaiians could easily think that these islands were all there was on Earth. Here at the summit one particular sight truly stood out: the plant 'Ahinahina (Haleakala Silverswords). We had the good fortune to see 3 of them in bloom, one short, one tall, and one huge. These beautiful, formerly endangered, plants live for decades but only bloom for only a single year. They were truly magnificent. It was also fun to look at the nearby observatory, a collaboration between the U.S. government and the University of Hawaii. Apparently (and unsurprisingly) this is one of the best astrological viewing locations in the world.

After the summit we considered (and got advice on) some hiking options. Of note, if you come here to hike be sure to bring lots of water, good footwear, and warm clothes. Our choices were medium in all cases accept the water – of which we had plenty. The most popular hike into the crater, Keonehe'ehe'e (Sliding Sands Trail), descends about 3000 feet in the first hour or two. Seeing as we only wanted to hike for a few hours, this felt a bit extreme. Instead we headed down to the Halemau'u Trailhead, which sat just below 8000 feet, and hiked down a popular camping trail. The terrain was much more lush, and we were on the wet side of the mountain. We expected about a mile of easy descent before hitting some more aggressive switchbacks, and things went mostly to plan.

As we set out, it did not take us long to simply enter a cloud, and we just never left. The constant mist was refreshing, and eventually grew into a light rain. The trail was flanked by lush plant-life. Beautiful ferns, flowers, and shrubs surrounded us at all times. The colors were stunning and the plants that had died seemed to age into a beautiful and haunting white, rather than just decay. But, none of this is why we felt most lucky. About a mile into our hike we stopped to look over a rock outcropping and into the seemingly endless fall into cliffs, forest, and clouds, when we spotted a cluster of four Nene, the Hawaiian national bird! They were incredibly calm and stunningly gorgeous geese (not how I usually describe geese). Only a few cutbacks after that, we saw two more that were even more exposed for posing! We considered ourselves quite lucky. After hiking for just over an hour downhill, we decided to turn back, but were surprised to make just about equal time on the ascent out as the descent in.

We suddenly realized how hungry we were and were grateful we ended our hike because the closest town with food was back in Makawao, nearly an hour away. The drive down was much the same as up – it’s the same road – so still be slow and be careful. In town, we went to Polli's Mexican for some over-sized burritos. The food was wonderfully tasty and before long I was regretting overeating. The Super Burrito was in fact… a SUPER burrito. To stretch our legs before getting back in the car we wandered the town. It was mostly souvenir shops and art galleries, but my favorite find was a glass blowing gallery. The items were more expensive than I’m used to seeing, but the craftsmanship was breathtaking. If you have the time, its worth a stop.

It was about 2:00 in the afternoon and we were pretty close to the coastal town of Paia, known for having Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles pop up on their shores. Excited to see the graceful sea creatures we headed over. We stopped at frankly the first beach we found, hopped out, and started walking down the coast. We were both feeling pretty pessimistic about it when up ahead we saw a rock… no wait… did that rock just move?!? There it was, a turtle, working its way onto the bank for some sun bathing. Turtles are awesome. Feeling more inspired (and having reached the end of the current 

beach) we headed back to the car and looked up the recommended location, Ho'okipa Beach. So, we headed the 10 minute drive to that beach which was PACKED! We almost turned around, but decided we should check it out. After parking and a brief look around, we’d actually decided to bail when we realized that an entire abandoned corner of the beach was not abandoned at all. Rather, it had simply formed into a dense sea turtle sun-basking refuge! It was amazing. We worked our way down to get a better look. We couldn’t count the number of turtles! We even got to see a few leave the water to join the sun-bathers and a few from further up the shore climb over their friends to return to the water. It was cute and awesome all at the same time.

The rest of the day played out much like the day before. The drive home was an uneventful 30 minutes, stopping for some groceries along the way. Once home, we changed into our bathing suits and went swimming again! This time we hung out in the water longer, enjoying our first viewing of the sun setting into the water in the distance. I’m always amazed by how fast the final minute of the sunset truly is, but its always fun to watch when you can truly see the horizon. Frankly still feeling full for lunch, we returned to the condo to eat a small salad for dinner and call it a night.