Wednesday 11 January 2017

Hazy Haleakala - Maui

We've been back home now for a few weeks. Actually... almost a month already! I've already been back at work for 3 weeks.
But what a trip has it been! we've had a wonderful time, met lovely people, and made amazing memories.

Sunrise at the top carpark

Some of these memories were from our trip to the Haleakala Crater on Maui, Hawaii. When we decided we would stop on Hawaii on our trip home, we looked into places would like to visit.
The sunrise Haleakala Crater is on most lists, and came onto ours as well.
We spend three days on Maui, and checking the weather forecasts we decided to give the sunrise a shot in the 2nd day. That was expected to be the day with the clearest skies.

Walking into the crater

We set our alarm for 3am. Sunrise was at 6:15am, and we had to drive to the top of the volcano before that. From where we stayed (at Lahaina) that is a 1,5 to 2-hour drive.
But in the dark, at Hawaii's winding roads, you have to take some delays into account. There was quite some traffic during the drive, but it was a lovely clear night. We saw millions of stars in the sky above, and villages glowing below.
We arrived at the top at 5am, just in time to get the last parking space at the top car park, and decided to nap for another half hour in the car.

Catching the sunlight in the crater

By the time we woke up half an hour later, we were surrounded by fog. We walked to the top, shivering in the cold wind, and watched the clouds roll in over the top.
Just as we had given up on seeing the sun, the clouds parted and we saw it rise.
After that we went back to the car, drove down to the top visitor centre, and ate our sandwiches.

Clouds in the crater 

It was about 8am by now, so we had the whole day ahead of us. What to with all that time?
we wanted to do a hike in the crater, but unfortunately I wasn't feeling too well (I had had a bad cold for a few days). And every sign we saw warned of the dangers of walking at this altitude when you're not fit...

Taking a break

But even from the visitor centre it looked stunning. We decided to take it slow, walk down for an hour or so, and then slowly go up again.
And we did not regret that, it was absolutely stunning! I never knew that just earth, dirt and rocks could be so beautiful.
Every turn we took, showed a new amazing vista. We took it slow, and enjoyed every minute of it.

As the clouds rolled in to the crater at the far end.

When we walked back up we felt how steep it was. It was a lot harder than going down. Of course that had nothing to do with our fitness, it was just the altitude!
Or at least that's the excuse the signs gave us.
As we walked up, the clouds rolled into the crater. By the time we reached the ridge again, it was really foggy. We drove down through the clouds on our way back.

So many shades of grey and red