Thanks to the time difference I am able to do what is typically unthinkable for me, wake up early. We ate a quick breakfast of yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola before packing up and driving to the Kaleakala National Park. The drive was… terrifying. Our rental, a 4 cylinder Hundai Elantari, sounded like it was what us athletes call “bonking.” The drive involved multiple switchbacks to climb to the 10,000 foot crest of the volcanic crater. Even more terrifying was knowing that this would be our cycling route for the next day; which proved the idiom “ignorance is bliss” to be correct. On the drive up, we spotted the national bird (and also title of some ridiculous dance) the Nene. We decided to take a moderate hike to save our lower extremities for tomorrow. Once out of the car and onto the lava trails we encountered a very knowledgable national park guard. Interestingly enough he had an Ironman earring in and when asked about it stated “oh yes, I did Kona. A long, long time ago with a body far, far away.” He likened volcanoes to people, “They’re either active, dead, or dormant.” This reminded me of our newly launched electronic medical records system at my old job wherein the available entry for a patient was “alive, dead, or other.” A volcanic expert must have been responsible for those choices. The name Haleakala means “House of the Sun.” According to local legend, the god Maui entrapped the sun here in order to make the day longer.
Haleakala
There are two main trails: Halemau’u and sliding sands, we opted for the later. From the crest of the trail, we could see the inversion layer- this happens when the cold air from the ocean comes inland and strikes the crater, cools down and forms a cloud layer. It’s breathtaking. Looking down into the crater are several cones that have formed from lava erupting upward. The lava that flows from this volcano is less explosive than that found in northwestern United States resulted in multiple layers. From the top of the trail we could look out on the Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on earth.
The views were breathtaking, but difficult with the altitude change. I encouraged my traveling buddies to turn around and head back to the car. Once back we enjoyed chocolate covered macadamia nuts and an equally terrifying drive back down the crater.
Hiking always requires Balteses to nap, which we did. We headed out to the grocery and grilled hamburgers out on the beach. A night swim in the ocean was a perfect end to another day in paradise. With that, I am signing off early to get my legs ready for tomorrow, em