Ascent of Haleakala

Closely watching the completely unreliable weather forecasts, we reserved Monday for our ascent of Maui's big volcano, Haleakala. (I keep trying to tell Vicki that the intersections of alpine and maritime are really bad places for weather forecasts...). But first we visited pretty little Paia and then, after Haiku (no poetry festival), the beautiful Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center.

At the wonderful Visual Arts Center, Vicki

stands by perhaps the largest Norfolk Island

Pine I have yet seen

Fuller view; but now I wonder whether this

is really a Cook Island Pine--both "discovered" 

by Captain Cook--but the latter with a more

curved appearance; anyhow, it's a big one

We are now about half way up the 10023 foot mountain,

with a great view of southwestern Maui, looking toward

Maalea

Two nene, at the Haleakala National Park mountain visitor

center

Silversword plant, endangered, but thriving in this weird

environment

At the summit; the parking lot is at 10000 feet; it was a tough

23 foot slog, but I did it; Vicki joined me later, after a nap

Unfortunately the place was in a complete white-out, high

wind, rain, etc., with nothing to look at but the nearby

observatories

Well, there was the white rainbow like the one I saw on

Mauna Loa a couple years ago; properly called a "fog bow,"
I understand, or "sea dog" if you're a mariner

After an hour or so, it cleared enough to see a bit of the

"crater," actually a severely eroded canyon

And a bit of the lowlands

And some of the summit terrain

And the one thing I really wanted to see, Hawaii's two great

mountains in the distance

We rewarded ourselves with dinner at the Haliimaile General

Store, Vicki the ribs, me, the incredible cocoanut seafood

curry, with cocoanut porter; yum

Maui Sunset

Driving back from Hana, we finally caught our Maui sunset, at the overlook near McGregor Point.

Hana Highway, Part Two

A larger waterfall, near Haleakala National

Park Kipahulu Headquarters

A beautiful banyan in the Park; love those aerial roots

Older Hawaiian archaeological site

Lower pools emptying into the sea

Spider webs shimmering; I now know all the

words to "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Root-covered trail in the Park

Guavas, yum

Mythically-important island off Maui's coast, part of the

Hawaiian creation myth...(ask Vicki)

Hana Highway, Part One

One of Maui's attractions is the Hana Highway, which one takes to get to Hana, on the east (wet) side of the island. The highway is a little more than 50 miles, starting near Pai'a, and, with 620 turns and some 60 bridges, three quarters of which are one-lane, it takes nearly 3 hours to drive, with minimal stops and traffic. Nearly all the highway is through rain forest, close to the coast, with occasional views of the beaches, cliffs, and sea. We started early, stopped often, had lunch on Hana Bay, and drove on to the Seven Sacred Pools in Haleakala National Park, on the southeast coast. And then drove all the way back....

Ho'okipa Beach, near the start of the highway

Surfing at "h-poko"

Taro paddies at Keanae Point

One of dozens of waterfalls along the way

Lava arches in the cove at Waianapanapa State Park, near

Hana

Green tunnel near the Park

Hana Bay Beach, where we stopped for a picnic lunch

The Hasegawa General Store in Hana, something of a

landmark; since 1910

West Maui

Later that day we just drove around the west Maui coast, north and south, getting an orientation, viewing the sites and scenery, mostly resorts and beaches.

Would-be surfers at Honolua

Looking north across the channel to Molokai

Later back south, near Wailea, on Keawakapu Beach

Hoping for a fine Maui sunset (Kahoolawe in the distance)

Alas, not to be, this day; but there were impressive clouds over

Hawaii

Expertly-built sand castles on the beach

The problem with sand castles, however...

Maui: Lahaina

So we landed at Kahalui, picked up our rental car, a Chevy HHR, and drove the 20-odd miles to Lahaina. Vicki had found a perfectly wonderful studio apartment in a nice residential neighborhood 5 minutes' walk from the beach. We spent our first evening and the next morning simply walking the beach and looking at older Lahaina, the 19th century capital. Lahaina is totally touristy--nearly everything in Hawaii is--but there are degrees of touristy, I think, and, somehow, Lahaina is on the good side of the spectrum. Some history; some historical buildings; some natural interest; some interesting galleries; and also all the usual crap.

We walked past the Feast at Lele, one of the many exorbitant

"luaus" around

Alpenglow on a rampart of Mauna Kahalawai; interestingly,

to me, Maui is built on two shield volcanos, the much older

and now severely eroded Kahalawai (5000 feet), and the

younger, less eroded Haleakala (10000 feet), more about

which later

Mauna Kahalawai the next morning; it was cloud-covered

every day of our visit

The great banyan tree at Lahaina's center; it covers nearly a

city block, aerial roots capturing new ground, extending and

supporting the great lateral limbs; said to be the largest in

the Islands

Thus

And thus; it also supports and shelters a fine crafts market; one

of two in the world we have found in which there is NO CRAP,

only neat and fine stuff (the other is at The Rocks, in Sydney)

One of the joys of grandparenthood is the

whole new dimension of humor and cuteness...

Looking across the channel to Lanai

I would bet real money that the "wreck" just off-shore here

has been planted and cemented into place by the chamber of

commerce...scenic, nonetheless

En Route To Maui

So our twin-engine prop Island Air DHC8 flew low and slow, as I like it, from Lihue on Kauai to Kahului on Maui, affording marvelous views of five of Hawaii's larger islands...

Bye-bye, Kauai

Oahu's northwest cape; note gigantic waves

Desolate west coast of Oahu

Honolulu sprawl

Pearl Harbor, Battleship Row, Missouri and Arizona Memorial

Next up: Molokai

Molokai southwest coast; we'll see the splendiferous northeast

coast via heli later; even lower and slower

Over desolate and sparse Lanai now

From Lanai to Maui...10 miles? 5?

On approach to Kahului; Lahaina, where the boats are
headed, is where we'll stay