We woke at 3am, ate a light breakfast and left in our (new to us) junker Nissan Sentra. The drive took us across the island, to a low point not more than 100 ft above sea level and then up, up the 10,000 ft leviathan. The drive was made more interesting by the fact that the car does not have functioning dashboard lights (so I didn't know how fast I was going) and that the gas tank was dangerously low (with no hopes for open gas stations at 4am). We passed through the gates at the National Park along with a lineup of other cars and continued zig-zagging our way up the mountain.
uite cold but not nearly as bad as I was expecting (ahhh, the joys of growing up in the northland, it almost never feels as cold anywhere else even with all the exaggerators out there). The sunrise itself was nice, with clouds helping to frame the sun. But it was nothing spectacular. I'm not sure what HB was expecting but she kept telling people "its not like a host of angels rose with the sun," i.e. it was nice but definitely short of breathtaking. The mood was also shattered by at least 30 people nearby (and over 100 watching the sunrise) and in particular two young frenchmen. Some people brought champagne and popped it as the sun overtook the clouds, but these two seemed to have already had some. HB thought they were funny at first (hehe, sorry I had to rat you out), but their antics grew decidedly less funny as one finally made his way towards us. He stood awkwardly close just gazing off into the sun, murmuring a few English phrases under his breath, trying to appear nice while his friend was taking pictures of us from behind. Long story shorter, a ranger had a talk with them later.
After talking with park staff, we finalized our route for camping and drove to the bottom of the park, Hosmer Grove, to park the car and have a second breakfast (much like Hobbits). Only then did we realize we had forgotten fuel for the stove. Hannah was quite crestfallen, she was excited and wanted the challenge of a more difficult, overnight hike. We regrouped and decided to hike our whole route (around 16 miles) in a single day instead of two. We repacked into one bag and walked out the main road, reenergized about the plan.
After walking uphill about a half mile, we finally snagged a young couple (on a honeymoon of course) to drive us to the summit where our trail began. We started on the Sliding Sands trail; it descends into the crater from the visitor center and links to several other trails. The descent into the crater was starkly beautiful, as only volcanos can be. A few colorful cinder cones dotted the crater's bottom and blends of red, orange, black and gray sand merged together as they were exposed and ran downhill. HB couldn't stop smiling.
We reached the crater's bottom and took off on another trail that wound through the cinder cones and across the barren lava fields and rock. Lava rock, while black as obsidian is not nearly as strong and had been weathered into interesting patterns and figures. As Haleakala easily rises above most clouds, they typically form around the middle of the mountain and flow upward as they try to pass it. Therefore at some of the low points in the crater, we could see clouds jostling one another as if fighting to pass through into the crater.
After several hours of hiking (and my synopsis of the entire Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy to HB), we had lunch at the campground where we were supposed to stay that night. We had gone low enough that grass and shrubs were now thick and clouds passed to either side or went straight through us. To one side rose sheer cliffs, black with green tinges that would dramatically appear and disappear as the clouds rolled by. A nearby lava tube and cave only added to the mystique of the place. But as we ate, we occasionally heard loud honks and flaps from nearby. With dense shrubs and low visibility due to the clouds, we could never get a glimpse of the bird. I came to the conclusion, the nene was taunting me.
I was excited to see this native, endangered and endemic bird and was therefore disappointed at my inability to see it. After an enjoyable lunch, we needed to keep moving. The invisible Nene gave us a parting honk or two but stayed hidden. We hiked down a bit further as the clouds continued to cover us and the impressive cliffs on our left. As I love the excitement and mystique that fog and clouds can give to a landscape, I thoroughly enjoyed the next few hours as we hiked first next to the cliffs and then up them all the while immersed in clouds. Although before we reached the cliff Hannah spotted a striking bird, standing on top of a rock, sihouetted against the white clouds. Thankfully it was a Nene, gracefully posing for us, possibly trying to make up for the wanker Nene that had been our taunting lunch campanion.
The 1,000 ft or so cliffs posed a good challenge. It was fairly steep but an even climb with the clouds obscuring the views but keeping us cool. My legs were burning as we hiked up them, although it was not from exertion, I got a heat rash on both calves and thighs (Rolf and Meghan may remember a similar experience wh
en we were in a AZ canyon). The clouds must pass over these cliffs regularly, because they were quite lush, with these multicolored red/green/white ferns our favorite. Contributing to the unique climb was the occasional honk of a Nene tucked away somewhere on the cliffside.Once we reached the top of the cliff, it was still a few miles to the car. Once there, we rested briefly, saw a few more endemic birds (yay) and then drove home. Luckily we had plenty of gas and no problems with the brakes (riding the brakes down from 10,000 ft is not recommended). We got home tired and dusty but happy.
I was very impressed with HB. She hiked all 17 miles or so without complaining (okay, just a little - "her dogs were barking" aka her feet hurt). I was happy to see her resiliency (she carried our pack virtually the entire distance) and her resourcefulness (the sole to her shoe nearly came off in the first mile of t
he hike, but she used a headband placed around the shoe to keep it together for the rest of the trip).The only other remarkable occurrence in our very long day was that we went to bed by 9 pm. But at 10pm we were awoken with a knock on our bedroom door. Our 50 year old roommate was heaving and panting and needed to be taken to the ER. In a fog (this time in my sleep-deprived head), I drove him to ER. He has pancreatic cancer and is undergoing chemo largely unknown to us. Apparently there were some complications and he has yet to call me to bring him home (almost 24 hours after dropping him off). Hopefully he will be alright.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed Andrew's first post.
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