Dawn at the Summit of Haleakala
It’s late, and I am thoroughly enjoying sitting in my bed, in Wailuku, with an internet connection. OK, that’s a big time understatement. I am in heaven – it’s the first time I have been able to get online since last Thursday!
My day started at 3am, when my phone alarm woke me up. I had things pretty much in order from the night before, so I simply folded up my sleeping gear, filled up my water bottles, and hit the road, driving up the mountain to Halelakala Park in the pitch dark. Fortunately it is an excellent road. Maui in general has excellent roads I am sure I am not the only one who really appreciates this. It makes traveling a breeze, if you will. I was hoping to be the first person up there, but I was the fourth. Still, that’s pretty good. It was 44 degrees and I put on my warm clothes – merino wool undergarments, a Patagonia jacket, and a wool jacket and wool hat. I parked in the lower parking lot and walked up to the summit. From the lot, there is a short trail that takes you to the very peak.
There’s a stone wall and I found a spot and parked myself, chatting with a young man who was visiting the island with his family. Here I am, laughing at myself. I packed an entire extra bag, just for this day. I could have cut my luggage by 35%, but I reminded myself that it takes the right gear to be comfortable in certain situations. No such thing as bad weather, just bad gear. I have learned this the hard way – like 20 times!
I enjoyed the serenity that happens in these hard to get to places. It was still pitch dark, at about 4am, and I wanted time to settle in and feel the space, before the sun woke up. As the minutes passed, more and more cars were arriving. While the solitude was disappearing, I was happy so many people were willing to pull themselves out of bed so early to partake in such an event. By 4:45, the sky was just starting to get a little lighter. It was subtle at first. Tour buses arrived and hundreds of people were milling around the two parking areas. I stayed firmly planted on the stone wall overlooking the crater.
There were no clouds overhead, which meant, it would not be all that dramatic of a sunrise—but I knew even with that being the case, it would still be an experience that would leave an impression on me. Actually, there were many clouds, but they were filling the craters below and were then surrounded and punctuated by peaks. It truly was a sight to behold. There were horizontal bands, yellows and orange ribbons stretched across the sky, reflecting the light of the sun. As I looked southeast, I saw Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea sticking out above the clouds – this is about 100 miles away on the Big Island!
The sun rose at 5:37am, and about 10 minutes before, I could see a red pattern in some of the clouds. The tension built and she finally made her way above the horizon. The clouds surrounding her lit up and the noise levels rose. I took a few deep breaths and drank in the sunrise. I stretched my legs, took some pics and when the dramatic moment subsided, I walked back to the car.
Good Morning Sunshine
By the time I hit the hiking trail, it was close to 7am. I began to descend into the moonscape of Haleakala Crater. Being inside of a volcano is just pretty darn cool. I love it! And walking downhill is not all that strenuous. It was truly hard to take it all in, as each direction had its own visual gifts to offer. Cinder cones and shades of red and brown and orange and grey. But beyond that, more lushness coated the mountain and green was reigning. The clouds above were a whole other story. One can watch the weather form, the clouds moving up from the east, and swirling about and moving through gaps in the mountains. I had read that before the mission to the moon in the 60’s, astronauts came to this park to practice walking on the moon.
A View from inside the Crater
At the bottom of the hill, four miles down, I took a lunch break under one of the larger bushes I saw and I was so very grateful for the shade it offered. Let me say, that after the first 20 minutes of hiking, I hadn’t seen a soul. I think for people who want a short hike, they simply walk down as far as they want and then ascend back to the parking lot. This is what I would do if I lived here and simply wanted to make a morning of it and not a whole day.
As I sat there, I did eventually see two women running down the hill. They commented to each other at being disappointed they were not alone and I told them I said the same thing to myself when I noticed them. I did however use the opportunity to get them to snap a picture of me with this fabulous scenery in the background. They were going back uphill and I was continuing down the mountain.
The Bottom of Sliding Sands Trail
The next few miles, the scenery was similar. All amazing. At some point, I passed through the Kaupo Gap and the descended far enough in elevation that the ecosystem began to shift. Plants were now in greater abundance. It was shrubby instead of barren. The silversword plant was the one plant that was growing well in the moonscape. It was one of a dozen plants that dominated the shrubby region.
The miles and time steadily ticked by. And I have to mention, I am thrilled that I have learned three things through the years of hiking and I had come prepared as a result. Firstly, hydration. I carried as much water as I could and was liberal in consuming it. Having dehydration headaches are no fun and I was sure I was not going to let it happen to me. Secondly, footwear. To heck with those Birkenstocks and get some proper footwear for hiking. I brought my hiking boots, but discovered as I put them on, that the lace eyes had broken off in a couple places, so I couldn’t properly lace them up. With hesitation, I wore heavy socks and Chacos and this turned out to be exactly the formula to follow anyway. Wearing heavy shoes in the tropics has led to blisters in the past. Not fun. Wearing Chacos for long periods of time with no socks has led to blisters. Not fun. But Chacos with socks, as much as this may be a fashion faux pas, gave me the support I needed for steadying my feet on rugged terrain and protecting my feet from pebbles and sharp rocks. And lastly, dressing in layers. Being comfortable with the temperature and precipitation and doing a modest amount of shlepping is just fine by me.
I took a little detour to check out the Silversword Loop. I didn’t see much more silversword than I had in other parts of the hike, so I am not sure why this area was special. Most of it I had seen was either dead or alive and in its leafy stage. But paying close attention, I spotted one in full bloom. It was not far off the path and I walked over to it and admired it. Absolutely, a stunning and tenacious plant. To be so beautiful in such consistently harsh conditions speaks to what great character it is imbued with.
The One Silversword I Saw in Bloom
The terrain continued on being shrubby and the last three miles, it really changed dramatically. It was an uphill climb. I had descended to about 6500 and needed to get back to 8000. I was now in the mountains, the clouds were thick and it was misting and at some points raining lightly. It felt wonderful, cooling and cleaning me off. The plants were lush. I saw the mountain sides thick with ferns (that are red!) and I spotted dandelion relatives and plantain growing by the paths. I also found a plant that is related to wild blueberries and tasted something like cranberries, a close relative of blueberry. This part of the hike was truly the most strenuous and my heart was getting a great workout. I stopped to sit on the rocks and looked down the steep hillsides relishing the fact that I knew the plants around me. I realized “I am in Oregon”, how amazing is this? The last two miles, I did encounter three parties of hikers, who basically parked at the trailhead on this end of the hike. I would be exiting and they were taking a short hike in through on the Halemau’u trail.
A Red Fern on the Halemau’u Trail
Those last two miles were pretty killer. Perhaps it was because of the cumulative effect of the entire day, which at this point, had started ten hours ago, but, in any case, I was glad to finish. Not too far from the trailhead is a pullover for hitchhikers. I did this hike, with complete faith that someone would be driving up the mountain and be willing to give a bedraggled but trustworthy woman a ride up to the top, where I had left my car. The first two cars that came by looked at me and kept on driving. The third car, was an Asian couple from California who were driving up the mountain to enjoy their last day on Maui. All in all, it took eight minutes from the time I finished my hike, until I was in a car headed back uphill.
Accomplished – yes, that would accurately describe where I was at that moment.
I got down the mountain, back in cell reception, and made arrangements for a hotel that night. I deserved it and just the thought of a warm shower was putting me in complete ecstasy.
But before I retired for the day – it was only about 2:30 — I treated myself to a few hours of lounging on a beach in South Maui, in Kihei. The weather wasn’t particularly warm, but who cares, it was warm enough for me to lay on a beach and that was all that I needed.
I expected when I got to the hotel in Wailuku that I would crash immediately but it’s so easy to get distracted while traveling and, in some ways, it’s one of the objectives of traveling. I took care of some things like laundry (the sandy and dirty clothes were starting to wear on me) and emails, but when I parked, I noticed there was music going on in the square next to me. A stage was set up under a banyan tree and strung with lights and there were laser lights pulsing underneath it. The music varied per act – folk, rap, Hawaiian, spiritual, electronic rave like, etc. But I liked the mish mosh. It seemed to reflect the different types of people who are in Maui. And Wailuku was not touristy, it appears to just be a place where locals live. It was a younger crowd and I was probably an old hag compared to most of the people there, but who cares? Even after a six hour hike, the music seemed to fill my soul in a different way, and I danced and grooved for a while longer. The dancing seemed like it was loosening my hips, which were tight from so much walking.
It was a most glorious day. Waking up high in the mountains and ending up boogieing under a lit up urban banyan tree. Only in Maui.
The Music Scene under the Banyan Tree in Wailuku