Monday, 20 July 2009

• Visiting the Volcano: Haleakala National Park

  

  It is not always rainbows and sunshine on the islands of Hawaii.  Well, okay, most of the time it is.  But depending where you go, it can be different.  Another of our day trips while we were on Maui was our journey up Haleakala. 

  This is a dormant volcano that is one of those things that every person should get to while you're on the island.  Someone had told us that the road would be even worse than the road to Hana, but I completely disagree.  It was indeed full of twists and turns, but at least there were no one lane bridges.

  

  As the elevation rose, the temperature dropped.  We stopped at the first visitor's center that is somewhere around 7000 feet, bought a couple souvenirs, and got a little video.  It was WINDY!

  We continued our drive up the mountainside.  One side of the mountain was sunny and bright....

  

  The other side cold and sleeting. We got to the top visitor's center (9600 feet elevation) a few minutes after it closed, but we didn't know that.  So we bravely ran through the sleet, thinking we'd at least get into the building, only to find it locked.

  We were freezing, but we're from the Midwest. So we can handle that.  Haha.  Even though it was disappointing not to be able to summit the volcano, it was still a good trip.  And we can put "summit the volcano" on the list of things to do next time we're there! 

  On the way down the mountain, on the sunny side anyway, there was this amazing rainbow.  You could literally see where it touched the ground!!  Apparently, though, the hikers that were there had gotten to the pot of gold before we did, because we never saw it.  Even so, I didn't even know you could see a rainbow touch the ground like that.  It was VERY cool. (Pictured above)
  

  TRAVEL TIPS:

  If you're planning a trip to Maui, you definitely need to schedule a visit to Haleakala.  The name means "House of the Rising Sun", and many people like to view the sunrise from the summit.  I am not a morning person, however, and waking up early enough to make the 2ish hour drive up the mountain, plus then hiking to the summit, all before sunrise, was NOT an idea that thrilled me.  However, there are a few overnight accommodations available at the national park, so next time we go, we'll try to book one of those ahead.  You can get info on them from the official web site here.

  One of the things that our travel agent, Don, from www.5starhawaiiresort.com and our friend Rick (www.fix808.com) both told us, was to bring something in case it got cold.  As you saw in my video and photos, I did have a sweater and my husband had a raincoat.  But we were both in sandals and summer clothes, which was probably not a wise choice.  (In our defense, we had originally planned to do the road to Hana that day and changed our minds at the last minute.)  If you're going to go up the volcano, take rain gear and dress appropriately.

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