We had been waking up early in the morning to do some snorkeling. On this morning, though, our group awoke to do a little exploring. We had a bit of a drive to get to the volcanic hills that made the island of Maui, now named Haleakala National Park. Through windy, twisting roads we drove through the clouds all the way to the high point where the visitor center was located. We did a bit of sightseeing as the entire island it seemed could be viewed from this point. Strange to be at nearly 10000 feet in elevation and see the ocean right below us. We were lucky on this day to add Paul to our group of hikers and to have Laura to do a car shuttle for us.
We started our hike above the clouds, but that did not last long. The trail took us right into the waiting moisture as we tromped down the trail through the volcanic soil. Paul was slightly worried about all the downhill hiking since his knees tend to hurt with the hiking, but when we talked to people about going up on this hike, they said that no one should do that. With the weather the way it was, we did not want to take that risk. The way the beginning started the happier I was with this choice as there were just lots of switchbacks going downhill in a barren landscape.
I did not even know what the name of this hike was, but after doing research, the name of it is Keonehe’ehe’e to Halemau’u Trailhead. Don't ask me to pronounce that now, but while we were in Hawaii, I was doing a much better job pronouncing words than Jacqueline. Popo helped quite a bit considering his one year of school as a student in Hawaii in elementary school. He helped us all with our pronunciations. The vegetation was rather scarce, but when there was some it was quite impressive. The famous plant for this region was the silversword. It had an incredible design and lived in this inhospitable soil.
As we ended the switchbacks, we came to a rather open valley. Just in time the clouds cleared to give us a view of all the little volcanoes in this massive caldera. If all of Hawaii looked like this, I don't think it would see nearly the visitation that it now sees. It was so desolate. We paused here for a lunch break while the rain clouds let our soggy selves dry off for a few minutes. It was nice to have such a big group to hike with and I was even more excited that Jacqueline and I were able to bring our two families together. I know my dad really likes Paul and Tom as he spent quite a bit of time talking to Paul on this hike.
The group enjoyed the sunny day for a short time before continuing on. The hike became a little bit more flat for a short time before continuing down some more switchbacks. I felt bad for Paul's knees that certainly were going to have to recover from this hike. The sunny skies quickly disappeared also and it became a rainy mess once again. This area must get a little more precipitation because there were starting to be a few more plants and grasses. Eventually we came to a cabin where a couple people were packing up. We saw a few people on this hike, but for the most part we had it to ourselves. I just love what you can do when you are not lazy. This crowded island of Maui, yet with some effort, we can move back in time to what the island would be like if no one had ever discovered it.
As we left the cabin behind, the downhill gave way to some steep uphill. We were now doing more switchbacks, but this time they were uphill switchbacks. Our group was moving well despite the sogginess of everyone. This area was so amazing with views out to the ocean and into the caldera. The plants were awesome also with some crazy coloration of the ferns. They were like Christmas colors as one would be green with another red one right next to it.
As we finished these switchbacks, there was not too much more to the hike. We were happy to see the trailhead appear with Laura there with the cars. It is quite ambitious to think that five people can do an 11.2 mile hike together and not have any issues. I don't remember any complaints from anyone in the group even though we had hiked through some not so perfect weather. I was glad to have Popo to plan this excursion as sometimes it is nice to not have to be the one thinking about logistics. We were pretty worn out after this trip, though, so the next couple days would have to be more low key with some snorkeling and some touristy type days.
I did not even know what the name of this hike was, but after doing research, the name of it is Keonehe’ehe’e to Halemau’u Trailhead. Don't ask me to pronounce that now, but while we were in Hawaii, I was doing a much better job pronouncing words than Jacqueline. Popo helped quite a bit considering his one year of school as a student in Hawaii in elementary school. He helped us all with our pronunciations. The vegetation was rather scarce, but when there was some it was quite impressive. The famous plant for this region was the silversword. It had an incredible design and lived in this inhospitable soil.
As we ended the switchbacks, we came to a rather open valley. Just in time the clouds cleared to give us a view of all the little volcanoes in this massive caldera. If all of Hawaii looked like this, I don't think it would see nearly the visitation that it now sees. It was so desolate. We paused here for a lunch break while the rain clouds let our soggy selves dry off for a few minutes. It was nice to have such a big group to hike with and I was even more excited that Jacqueline and I were able to bring our two families together. I know my dad really likes Paul and Tom as he spent quite a bit of time talking to Paul on this hike.
As we left the cabin behind, the downhill gave way to some steep uphill. We were now doing more switchbacks, but this time they were uphill switchbacks. Our group was moving well despite the sogginess of everyone. This area was so amazing with views out to the ocean and into the caldera. The plants were awesome also with some crazy coloration of the ferns. They were like Christmas colors as one would be green with another red one right next to it.
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