Someday we would love to venture to Haleakala, the House of the Sun to see the sun rise at dawn. The reality of life, however, is that on this trip our busy schedule and, more than anything else, our fatigued bodies did not allow us to get up at 2:00 a.m. in order reach the summit in time.

As things worked out, we woke up at 5:30 a.m. and left our home base in Honokowai at around 7:15 a.m.. The drive to the top of Haleakala takes about 2 - 2½ hours depending on the weather and the traffic.

Today was a windy and cloudy day on most of Maui. Traffic heading to the mountain was surprisingly light. We were much luckier, however, on this visit, because the clouds were almost non-existent over about 6000 feet and the views into the crater of Haleakala were much better than on our previous trip. The view back down over central and western Maui was obliterated by a heavy cloud cover.

The conditions in late May were much better than on our last visit in mid-March two years ago. The winds were significantly less strong at the summit and the temperature was actually quite mild. There was not even the need for a jacket - which is unusual.

On many days the winds at the Visitor Center which is located at 9,740 feet, as well as those at the summit at 10,023 feet, are exceptionally strong. It is often very hard to hold a camera still to photograph into the crater.

Next Page > Kalahaku Overlook and down > Page 1, 2, 3

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