Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Haleakala, Maui

Hi Dear Folk,

I'm going to take you to the top of Haleakala, almost 10,000 feet above sea level.  This is a trip to see the sunrise, so you have to get up very early, in fact you have to get up at 1:30 AM, to be on the road by 2:30 AM unless you are a super speedy person.  This trip takes a lot of thinking about, how do I dress out of a suitcase of almost entirely summer clothes.  Well you layer your clothes and then if all else fails you grab a blanket out of the closet which is what I did.

It took us one hour just to get to the base the volcano and another hour to get to the top.  Obviously when you get to the top there are no lights, because that would defeat the purpose.  So our eyes became accustomed to the darkness and we stumble off in the direction, heading where a few other people are heading.  Fortunately Barb had a little light on her phone, because we forgot to bring a flashlight/torch.

Eventually we get to a position that we think might be good, in all honesty we hadn't a clue.  I felt that I had just got off the ski lift at the top of Jay Peak in the middle of winter, facing Canada.  The wind is brutal, plus it is very cold and I wasn't dressed in ski clothes.  Let me tell you if I had not taken the blanket I would never had made it.

This is what we saw.  You are above the clouds.


What an amazing experience, you have to do it at least once.  Although next time I'm opting for sunset.





We crouched down behind the rocks for some protection from the wind and it did make a difference.

I am not even going to show you a photo of what I looked like, probably a refuge from a Siberian Gulag would most aptly fit my description.  Barb had packed some winter items, which I had not because of trying to pack very light.





 
My toes started to get cold because I had to wear my Aurora sandals up there, as the back strap on my walking shoes broke.  Stumbling up the steps I chipped a piece out of the front of them, oh well, such is life.

 

After the sun had risen we took refuge in the little shop there.


 

We could have thought we had been Apollo dropped on the moon.

 
     
 

What an amazing plant, it looks like it comes from Lost In Space.

 

And here we are at the observation point even higher.  You can just see this to the top left of the car park photo.

 
 

We were so tired on the way down, which is all switch back curves, that we pulled over in a lay by and slept for an hour.  It did us the world of good.


Christy

1 comment:

  1. What an amazing experience and the photos are fantastic.

    ReplyDelete

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