Hawaii 2017-Day 1

Day 1

Arrived last night to Maui.  We got in a half an hour early, but David and Molly were delayed in LA and arrived 3 hours later.  It gave Jeri and me a chance to try out the local cuisine near the airport. We finally got to our hotel in Kaanapali around 9:30 and crashed.
We woke early this morning to a beautiful Maui day.

View from our condo

We headed out early for Haleakala, the highest peak in Maui  topping out at just over 10,000ft.  It is actually the world's tallest mountain  when measured from it's base, 20,000ft below sea level.  Thanks to Craig Leffingwell, we had our own tour guide for the drive to Haleakala National Park.

 He had suggested an app called GypsyGuide to Maui.  It's really pretty cool; based on your GPS location it gives oral commentary about local history, geology, and ecology.  We decided to name him "Derf", our nickname for the tour guide we had in Alaska when we first met.

The drive took about 2 hours driving from sea level (the route took us along the coast where we saw quite a few whales out in the bay)  to 10,000ft over about 45 miles.

The temperature change was dramatic, low 70's when we started to 45 (with a wind chill that made it feel like it was in the teens). On the way up, we saw several groups of cyclists riding down the volcano (Jeri and I did this back in 1992 when we were here), and fewer, but fitter, riders pedaling furiously UP the mountain.  Dave and I were a bit jealous.

We were all (except David who is not yet old enough to have one) excited about getting to use our National Parks Pass.  Since the 3 elders all had passes, we had to decide whose to use by playing scissor, paper, stone.  Molly won, but we will have at least one more chance to use ours in Volcanoes N.P. on the Big Island, next week.

Molly and Jeri layered up (7-layers) for the hike we planned down into the volcanic crater.

Silver Sword- Endangered plant  making a comeback

Silver Sword after blooming

Haleakala is a shield volcano.  This type of volcano is formed by slow ooze of lava often from side vents rather than an explosive eruption .  It creates a broad based mountain  with a crater due to collapse of overlying crust.

The hike down into the crater was pretty easy, dropping about 1400 ft.  The return trip, on the other hand, was quite challenging due to the elevation gain and, more importantly, the thin air at 10,000 ft.  Part way up we found a somewhat sheltered area where we took a break for refueling on apples, granola bars, and pb crackers, and a respite from the cold winds.
                           

After the hike, we drove a short distance to the actual summit that afforded great views of the crater and of the adjacent observatory complex.

We were extremely lucky to have a virtually cloudless day with spectacular views.  Last time Jeri and I were here, it was completely socked in with maybe a 1/4 mile visibility.

The drive down was uneventful except for the terrible traffic on the west side of the island.  We almost missed our dinner reservation at Huno's.  Real glad we didn't.  The food was fantastic (a little pricey, though).  Again on Craig's rec, I had the whole wok fried fish which was amazing.

After dinner, a quick trip back to Kaanapali, and all off to bed, exhausted, but ready for early morning whale watching tomorrow.