Friday, March 5 – Kihei

Today’s going to be fun. I’m heading out early to visit Haleakala National Park.

Established in 1916, the park covers over 33 thousand acres. Haleakala “Crater” is the centerpiece of the park. Although, it’s actually not a crater, but an erosional valley. Nowhere else on earth can you drive from sea level (Kahului) to 10,023 feet (the summit) in only 38 miles!

Leaving around 7am, it took me about an hour and 15 minutes to drive from my hotel to the park entrance. My plan is to visit the summit and (hopefully) get in a couple hikes within the park.

Travel Note: I was originally planning on visiting the park yesterday. Thankfully though the park’s website provides weather conditions and forecasts for the high elevation at the summit (which can be totally different than that at the beach in Kihei!). Yesterday’s forecast was for clouds and rain. Pass!

The trailhead for my first hike of the day is located adjacent to the Visitor Center. The hike is named Keoneheehee (Sliding Sands), which is an out-and-back route that heads downhill into the crater. The round-trip is 4 miles with and elevation change of 2,500 feet! The rule of thumb is to figure it will take twice has long to hike out as it took to go in. I’m not sure if I’ll be making the full descent.

The hike going in was super easy, but I could tell I was feeling the impact of the high altitude (lightheaded, headache), and did a couple turnaround short ascents to determine how I would do traveling back up the trail. Eventually I decided I had gone far enough and that a retreat was in order. Humbling, but necessary. The round-trip took me about 2 1/2 hours, with many rest (catch my breath) stops on the way out. I later spoke to one of the park rangers and described where I had stopped on the trail. Based on that information, she informed me that the hike took me a mile into the crater, with an elevation change of 400 feet. Not terrible, I guess.

Needless to say, my plans for a second hike today were canceled. On my way out of the park though I made a stop at the Kalahaku Overlook (elevation 9,324 feet). It provides another perspective of the crater.

My final stop in the park was a place called Hosmer Grove (elevation 6,750 feet). It consists of a short nature trail (1/2 mile loop) and a picnic area. After a snack and a rest, I checked out the trail…

And I made a few purchases today at the park! Left and lower center are a sticker and pin ($10). Upper center is a Senior Lifetime National Park Pass ($80). I just qualified for this in January, so the timing is perfect! And it should pay for itself on this trip alone, because in addition to visiting this park on Maui, there are also two parks on the Big Island that I intend to see, and the entry fee to each is $30. Finally, on the right is a National Parks Passport ($13), where stamps can be collected from each park visited.

Saturday, March 5 – Kihei

Okay, the park is not going to beat me! I’m going back to Haleakala this morning to tackle my second planned hike.

Before the hike however, I’m going to make a return to the Kalahaku Overlook, hoping for a cloud-free view…

Today’s trail is called Halemauu, and is a 2.2 mile out-and-back route with an elevation change of 400 feet. Similar to what I did yesterday. The difference from yesterday though, is that this trailhead is at 7,990 feet rather than 9,740 feet. Hopefully that will help alleviate my altitude issues.

Below are a couple panorama photos from my phone…

This was a great hike! I felt much better today. It’s amazing what a difference 1,800 feet in elevation makes. The out-and-back took me about 1 1/2 hours.

Not too far from the park is the town of Makawao. This little place is known for its speciality shops and down-home eateries. Touristy? Yes. But I’m going anyway! First things first…Lunch!

I did see some some work by a couple artists that I liked, but nothing specific, so I’m going to check out their websites and maybe have something shipped to me.

Sunday, March 6 – transit from Maui to The Big Island (Hawaii)

My flight to Hilo today is not until noon, so that allows me a nice leisurely morning. Feels good after my early trips to Haleakala the last two days. The Hawaiian Airlines flight ($86 + $15 bag fee) is on the usual 2×3 seater (I think it’s a Boeing 717), and takes about 35 minutes.

Travel Note: My Maui rental averaged 42 mpg. I thinks that’s amazing, considering the all switchback roads and high altitude driving.

As I was waiting for the rental, I realized that I hadn’t provided a glimpse of my luggage for the trip. So, here you go…

I flew into Kona, but for the next week I’ll be staying in a hotel in Hilo. The drive took about 90 minutes.

Travel Note: I’m flying out of Kona when I head back to the mainland on the 15th. That’s why I flew there from Maui and picked up my rental there. In hindsight though, I should have considered flying into Hilo, picking up the rental there and then dropping it off in Kona. I’m not sure if it would have been cost-effective, but I should have at least considered it.

My accommodation is the SCP Hilo Hotel.