Sunrise Over Haleakala

We woke up at 3:00 am this morning. No, we weren't completely insane. We wanted to get to the summit of Haleakala by sunrise, which this morning was at approximately 6:03 am. I had heard that this is an absolutely spectacular sight and a must see. Although I had been to the summit of Haleakala once before, I had never seen a sunrise there.

Since the summit of Haleakala is at an elevation of 10,023 feet, we knew we would need some kind of jacket. It was likely to be very cold in the wee hours of the morning. We had parkas and our son had a hoodie - not quite warm enough so we each threw on an extra tee shirt. This would have to do.

It was pitch black when we left the hotel at Kaanapali, on the other side of the island from Haleakala. We grabbed some drinks and some breakfast foods, and started our two plus hour drive.

As we rounded the point and Kahului came into view, we noticed a huge fire on the plain. We figured it must be one of the sugar cane fields, which are burned right before harvest. The fire got much larger as we got closer and we soon realized that we would be driving right past it. Quite spectacular. We certainly don't see this everyday in California!

As we left the sugar cane fire, we began our ascent up the slopes of Haleakala. We had noticed that the summit was covered in clouds and we wondered if we had gotten up so early in the morning for nothing. Only time would tell.

At last we reached the turn that would take us up the final series of switchbacks to the summit, at which point we ascended into a thick cloudbank. This wasn't looking promising, but just before reaching the summit, we popped out of the cloudbank and into the clear night sky.

We didn't hit much traffic. I think we underestimated the amount of time it would take us to drive, and most people had probably already arrived before we did. That theory was confirmed when we got to the nearly full parking lot, just before sunrise, as the Haleakala National Park ranger was beginning his talk. We waited, all watching the sky above the cloud covered horizon begin to brighten. Soon, those same clouds had a golden lining for a few short minutes before the sun's golden globe finally peaked above.

The most amazing thing about experiencing a Haleakala sunrise is the knowledge that you will never again see the same sunrise. The clouds will never be in just the same position or shape. The sun will never again make quite the same patterns of light in the sky. It was a uniquely personal experience.

But what to do when you've driven over two hours to the summit of an over 10,000 foot mountain? Go hiking, of course!

This wasn't exactly hiking, but we did every short walk that was available. We hadn't packed the necessary equipment to do a full scale hike; only two Camelbak water bottles, a large fanny pack and some snack bars. We had hoped to do a horseback ride on the Sliding Sands trail, but one telephone call confirmed for us that our son was too young. So we walked up White Hill just past the Visitors Center and took in the view. Then we walked up to the summit and took in an even better view. Another short walk up to Magnetic Peak gave us a good view of the Observatory, which is off limits to the public.

We also saw several good examples of the Haleakala Silversword ("ahinahina") in all stages of its life cycle. Haleakala is the only place in the world where this plant grows. Walking around the parking lot were some juvenile Hawaiian Geese ("nene").

Since I had taken the drive up, Duane took the drive down. Unsurprisingly, I slept most of the drive.