This was an unbelievable site for a Louisiana person. The park yeilded many new experiences. The altitude at the top of the volcano crater did tricks to our equilibrium, but the spectular view was worth every moment.

First the very wee hours of morning we start our 25 mile drive from Kahului through sugarcane and pineapple fields, small villages, and lush flora. Up the final 12 miles through the cluods, up twisting and winding, sometimes one lane roads arriving well before dawn. The fresh, thin, and almost freezing air takes your breath away. Now above the clouds, the colors of the sky lightens from a deep star filled blue to a faint pale blue, the tops of the clouds begin to lighten and glisten. The sky sparkles as the sun, still below the clouds sends rays of light skyward to us. The excitement builds. The sun now peeks just above the clouds, the colors as spectacular. Pink, orange, gold, silver, blue, and countless hues of delite.

Finally, the sun rises above the clouds, hitting us full force. Our excitement and anticipation fulfilled, our hearts full of awe and our bodies and warmed fully. This experience is better than words can express. One must take the opportunity to experience this almost life changing event at least once in a lifetime.

Most hikes in the Haleakala "crater" start at the Sliding Sands Trail. From there, 27 miles of trails wind around cinder cones that grew up from the floor of this valley after it was formed by thousands of years of erosion. Sometimes the "crater" is sunny, but more often it is filled with clouds (just to warn ya….)

The Sliding Sands trailhead starts at the Visitor Center near the Haleakala summit (10,023 feet). Looking into the valley a couple thousand feet below, there are at least a dozen cinder cones in dazzling colors of red, orange, brown, and purple. A great shorter hike (5 miles round-trip) goes down the Sliding Sands trail to Ka Lu’u o ka ‘O’o, the only cinder cone that has a trail going up it.

Instead, I chose to hike Sliding Sands to Halemau’u Trail. This is a nice distance of 11 miles, with a easy-cruisin 2500 feet of elevation loss, and a moderately strenuous 1400 elevation gain. I liked that it is a one-way hike, since I didn’t want to have to retrace my steps. The only problem was arranging a pickup at the ending trailhead. I was able to do so, but another option is to park at the Halemau’u trailhead in the morning and then try to hitchike up to the Visitor Center to start the hike.

Back at the Sliding Sands trail, I found my surroundings to resemble a moonscape. The valley is 2.5 miles wide and 7.5 miles long, most of it without vegetation. The few plants that I did see were SO beautiful, maybe because of the stark contrast.

The silversword is an endangered plant found only at Haleakala. I felt honored to be so close to such a special plant. It is distantly related to the sunflower, but you wouldn’t know by looking at it. The silvery leaves shimmer in the sun. They are sharp and pointed. The silversword flowers only once in it’s lifetime, then dies. I also saw Naenae shrubs, and an interesting crossbreed of the Silversword and Naenae.

Not far after the junction with the Ka Lu’u o ka ‘O’o trail is the turnoff for Halemau’u trail. I found myself still in a moonscape, with cinder cones closer and all around me. But after a couple miles, I found a new surprise.

The valley floor first changed to a more broken up, upheaved earth area, with a short side trail called Silversword Loop. After Silversword Loop, I’m suddenly in a grassland. This is the area near Holua, a cabin and campsite in the northwest area of the crater. I found this grassy area to be so pleasant, with a light breeze to cool me off and views out Ko’olau Gap toward the ocean.

Not as pleasant (but not too bad), was the two miles of switchbacks that I had to go up to end the hike. The switchbacks are fairly gradual, so not too painful, and with fine views before the end of the hike.

Haleakala National Park is 31,083 acres of protected area that extends from the summit of Haleakala at 10,023 feet down to sea level. This extreme change in elevation means that a wide variety of ecosystems are included in the park, with diverse plant and animal populations.

The park brochure explains why it is so important to protect this area. There are at least 1000 native species of flowering plants in Hawaii. 90 percent of these are endemic, found only in Hawaii. Of these, 10 percent are extinct and 30 percent are threatened or endangered. As far as native bird species go, there are 140 kinds but 85 are now extinct and 32 are endangered. Introductions of non-native, invasive plants and animals are the number one threat to Hawaiian ecosystems.

The main area of the park is the Summit District, which includes Haleakala "crater." This area can be reached from Kahului by taking Highway 37 to Highway 377 to Highway 378. The drive will take about 2 hours from most resort locations.

Haleakala (House of the Sun) is a shield volcano that rose from the sea 900,000 years ago and continuously erupted until 400,000 years ago. The most recent eruption is thought to be in 1790. The original mountain was actually a few thousand feet higher, but has eroded to it’s current elevation. Haleakala crater is not really a crater at all, but rather a valley created by erosion. The valley is 2.5 miles wide and 7.5 miles wide, and it filled with cinder cones, volcanic rock, and beautiful silversword plants.

You can look into the valley from the Visitor Center near the summit. The Visitor Center(6am-3pm) is the place to get park information, purchase books, and find out about ranger-guided hikes and talks. Summit talks are given daily at 9:30am, 10:30am, and 11:30am. Cloud forest hikes are given Monday and Thursday at 9am (3 hours, 3 miles, leave from Hosmer Grove), and Cinder Desert Hikes are given Tuesday and Friday at 9am (2 hours, 2 miles, meet at Sliding Sands trailhead). These guided activities are FREE, and from my experience are always excellent. Also ask about the Junior Ranger program for the kids!

Or you can hike on your own. See my separate hiking entry for information. Free camping on a first-come, first-serve basis is available at Hosmer Grove. There are backcountry campsites available by permit, as well as backcountry cabins for rent. See the park’s website for more information. Other popular summit activities include biking down the mountain and watching sunrise on top of Haleakala. Sunrise-watchers should dress warm and bring a blanket!

The other main area of the park is the Kipahulu District on the far east side of Maui. This is the wetter side of the mountain, and features rainforest and waterfalls as the star attractions. However, it is a significant excursion to get there. See my journals on Hana, Maui for information on hikes, ranger programs, camping, and swimming at Kipahulu.

Holy Haleakala!!! From all the hype, it seems that most people view the crater and its surrounding area at sunrise. Well, there was no way in the world I was getting up at 2 or 3am to make the ascent. My sister and I started about 9am in a rental car.

On any map of the area the road looks like something drawn on an etch-a-sketch, sort of jagged and sharp. You do have to pay attention while driving since there are very determined bicyclists cruising down the roadway, some led by experienced guides and usually in the correct lane, but sometimes not. Evidently they don't need to pedal because the descent is really steep. It's really odd because you go from lush looking areas near the base of the highway up to barren wasteland type scenes near the summit. There are all sorts of caution signs you need to heed. One sign in particular warns you to watch for the endangered NeNe geese. We didn't see any of those but we did catch sight of a pheasant with one single chick making their way across the roadway.

There is a Visitor Center at about 7000 feet. The Center is open from 8am to 4pm. It's a good place to stop and orient yourself. Note that no food or gasoline are offered for sale in the park so you might want to pack something for your outing and make sure your vehicle is fueled. Cost for entrance into the park is $10 per vehicle but that is good for a seven-day period if you care to go back.

Once you leave the Visitor's Center, there are several parking places as you near the summit. Since we thought most people arrived for the sunrise spectacle we were somewhat amazed at the number of people and vehicles we encountered. Most people including ourselves marveled at the sight of the Haleakala Silversword plant, a plant that grows nowhere else in the world. They have an appearance similar to a yucca plant but there the similarity ends. It almost appears that someone spray-painted them with silver paint. Everybody was there for a view from the top. Although sunrise had come and gone many hours before, nobody appeared disappointed with the view. It's a very rugged, dry-looking desert like atmosphere at the top. Pretty windy, so you might want to pack a jacket.

It took us a few hours to go up and then make our way back by car. We managed to make it down in time for a late lunch in the town of Paia.