Haleakala National Park is located on the eastern side of Maui, and is dominated by the shield volcano Haleakala. Peaking at a height of 10,023 feet above sea level, this dormant volcano can be seen from almost all points in Maui.
The area is also steeped in deep cultural history, and is considered sacred by the Native Hawaiians.In Hawaiian, Haleakala means "house of the sun." Legend said that it was here that the demigod Maui captured the sun, causing it to slow its path through the sky. I suppose this is where its name came from.
In this post, I will be sharing my experience at Haleakala National Park, which I must say, was my favorite part of Maui.
The day started at a bright and early 2am. I packed my backpack, grabbed my warmest clothes, and headed out. To get to the summit requires about 3.5 hours, though that depends where you are staying. After I parked the car, I headed out to the overlook.
As soon as I stepped out of the car, I was rushed by a strong,frigid breeze - it was pretty paralyzing. Luckily, I made my way through the crowd and found a nice front row view, and because there was so many people, it was actually keeping me fairly warm.
Once the sun started to near the horizon, a beautiful golden hue could be seen in the sky. It was so magical!
In the dim light, you can make out the Big Island in the background (above)! It was very interesting to see all the way from Maui!
The sun continued to rise, and more of the cloud formations could be made out.
To me, these clouds looked like water flowing over the mountaintops.
As the sun finally peaked over the horizon, you could hear the awe in everyone's voice. It was a very special moment for everyone here.
With the sun out, a wash of gold was cast upon the crater (technically, it is a depression), giving us the first glimpse of what was to come.
Now that the sun was out, it was time to start the hike. I chose to do the Sliding Sands trail, which starts from the summit, proceeds into the crater, and then back to the top.
The photo above and below were the some of the gorgeous views that could be seen while hiking down. My photos do not do this landscape justice!
To give you an idea of the scale of the place, if you look towards the bottom of the photo above, you can make out two other hikers. They look so tiny compared to the surrounding area!
This is the view as you near the bottom of the trail.
So, I reached the end of the trail, but this place was just too amazing. I got sucked in and continued on a new path! At this point, I almost felt like I had been transported to Mars - the sand, the rocky surface, the red colors. Yup, definitely Mars!
I continued on, choosing many different trails, all the while passing the most alien of formations.
The contrast of the black and red sand, along with the hills in the background, was so beautiful. Again, photos do not do this justice - at all!
After much hiking, I finally approached this cabin. At this point, I was nearly out of water and was hoping to find some here. Unfortunately, these cabins have to be reserved in order to go in, so I was out of luck! I did decide to rest for a little while in the shade that was provided.
As I sat down in front of the cabin, there was this gorgeous view in front of me. All I could do was stare in awe for a few minutes. Can you imagine waking up to that?!
And, I was not alone here at the cabin. I had these two nene to keep me company!
After resting a bit, I hit the trail again. Oh...only 5.7 miles to the summit...and all uphill....! I really think hiking here is worth it, but don't do what I did: start at the summit, walk down Sliding Sands, take extra trails, then hike back to the top. My legs, lungs,...everything....hurt!
After a wondrous, fantastical, and grueling 16 mile hike, I finally reached the summit again! I have never been so happy in my life!
The Haleakala silversword, or 'ahinahina as it is known in Hawaiian, can be seen growing alongside the trails. Once on the verge of extinction, this hardy plant is now considered threatened and efforts have been made to protect it.
The lifespan of the silversword can last between 3 to 90+ years. It first starts out as a silvery compact rosette (above), which allows it to survive so well in this harsh environment.
Once the rosette reaches a diameter of approximately 1.6 feet, a stalk which bears the flowers will shoot up (above). This flower stock can reach over 6.5 feet!
Eventually, seeds will form and the plant will die (above). Hopefully, the seeds will produce more silverswords, and with management efforts going on right now, this beautiful and unique plant can cease to be listed as threatened.
If you ever find yourself on Maui, I feel the one thing everyone should do at least once is visit Haleakala. There is a real sense of beauty, peace, and spirituality that is so hard to describe. The Native Hawaiians view this area as sacred, and after my visit, I can understand why.
Thank you for taking the time to join me in my adventure! Like always, if you enjoyed this post, please feel free to comment, upvote, resteem, and/or follow me. All are greatly appreciated! I look forward to seeing you in the next one!
This post received a 4.4% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @akemirayko! For more information, click here!
This is an exceptional post with beautiful pictures and an excellent narrative of your entire journey up Haleakala National Park. To see the sun rise looked like such a surreal moment, like the awakening to an ethereal beginning. It truly was captivating. I couldn't believe how some of the pictures did look like you were on Mars! It must have been a hard climb, because the altitude makes it harder to breathe. I commend your fortitude and determination to make it to the top. That shows wonderful character!
I want to thank you for posting a truly well written post with amazing quality and effort. I wish people will see this post and resteem it, because it deserves recognition. Good luck and again, thank-you for posting such an exceptional article. I loved it!!!!!!
Oh, thank you so much for all of these wonderful comments! The entire day was truly magical! And yes, when I said reaching the summit was one of my happiest moments, it really was! I wasn't sure I was going to make it...>_<
Such amazing views! Definitely worth the hike
Thank you so much for your comments! The hike was absolutely worth it!
Yes and youre right, the landscape does look extraterrestrial
This is a fantastic post, thank you so much for taking us on this journey with you! The photos are incredible, but your description of the places and things really bring it all together. BTW...
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Oh my goodness! Thank you so so much for your wonderful comments! I am definitely willing to let you share this post. Again, thank you so much!
I'm happy to have found your post! I wade through hundreds of garbage posts of just a picture, or just a couple sentences. So it is refreshing to find posts like yours that actually share information, photos, and an awesome trip!
You are so kind! I don't know what to say...you have just made my day! ^_^ I work hard on my adventure series, so it brings a smile to me to know some people like it! Thank you!
They are really well put together and fun to read! I am happy to help in whatever way I can, I will be nominating the post for consideration for tomorrow's compilation post. Hopefully the other curators will enjoy it as much as I did!
I am so happy that you found this post. When I had read the @akemirayko post, I couldn't believe the beautiful pictures and the detailed narrative. It was so informative and complete that I knew I had to resteem it. What you are doing for akemirayko is something that I admire, because there are some really hard working minnows who put so much quality and effort into what they do. Many times, these minnows only get a few hits and such quality information gets wasted.
@akemirayko, she has been doing a whole series on the Hawaiian Islands with the same quality each time but never drew any significant interest or votes. I am deeply happy that you have found this gifted minnow and will try to give your support. Your are doing something very admirable for which I am deeply grateful for. Again thank-you for helping this hard working individual!
I am always searching through the new posts for the undervalued ones like this :) Happy to help out in whatever way I can!
You are really doing something very special for which you should be commended. I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries but I have been following @akemirayko for awhile & knew that the posts she was putting out was always of great quality but no one really checked them out. It was discouraging for me to see others putting out just a picture with only a few words while getting so much activity, while her wonderful posts got little to none. I am truly happy that you came upon her posts. Thank-you so much for your kindness and wonderful efforts to help those who truly need it. You are doing a really wonderful thing. Thank-you so much! :D
You definitely didn't overstep :) I appreciate others knowing that there are people out there looking for under appreciated posts and try to get them as much attention as possible. Probably my favorite thing to do on here is find the person putting a ton of work into their posts and be able to reward them for their work. Feels so good.