Hawaii

November 5-28, 2011

hawaii - november 7

Mount Haleakelā and the Cloud Forest Hike

Haleakalā Sunrise

I'd like to say we got up bright and early but although it was early, it was definitely not bright... the only lights I spied as i peeked out from the tent was the snaking headlights headed up to the summit to see the sunrise. In a panic I woke Rubby and we decided we'd better get going. Dressed warmly in layers and with hats and mittens we joined the procession of cars headed up the mountain. The top parking lot was already full and the one further down was filling fast. With our headlamps strapped on we clambered up the short path to find a perch along the rocky path and huddled together to await the sunrise. It was pretty cloudy and the sun didn't just pop up... it rather stretched and yawned, sending out golden and orange rays across the horizon like arms, casting a soft glow across the volcano summit. At one point we figured it must be finished and people slowly headed back to the cars but we held out for a bit longer and were rewarded with an encore presentation... a final dazzling push into the sky.

6am on Mount Haleakelā... could you guess from our clothes that we're in Hawaii?!

A light glow over the bed of clouds.

Christopher is cheerful, despite the early awakening and the cold temperatures.

The island of Hawai'i, the largest of the Hawaiian Islands, is visible in the distance. Its two dominant volcanic peaks are Mauna Kea (4205m)
on the left and Mauna Loa (4169m) on the right. These peaks are about 128 and 160km southeast of Haleakalā.

Samantha and Rubby huddling together to say warm as they watched the sun rise.

Some say the Haleakelā sunrise is better on a cloudy day... I could see why.

The clouds make their own landscape which changes throughout the sunrise.

The sun finally breaking up past the horizon (6:30am).

As it got brighter, we could start to make out features of the landscape.

Panorama of Haleakela crater at sunrise.

Samantha and Christopher among the crowd gathered to see the sunrise.

The clouds make for a "sun sandwich".

We can a second group of people at the lookout by the upper parking lot.

Besides watching the sunrise, the summit of Haleakelā is a great place to watch the skies in general as attested to by the presence of the observatory.