Our Trip up Haleakala

First, let me start off by saying that it's amazing what you can accomplish in a day of vacationing when you are out of your hotel room by about 7am. Both Matthew and I were impressed with ourselves, though most if not all of that is due to being in a different time zone. 

After a lazy day spent on the beach and by the pool, we decided to spend our last day in Maui on the volcano. Fun fact, Haleakala stands at 10,000+ feet above sea level and you can drive a very windy road all the way to the top. Mount Hood, the one we look fondly to in Oregon is only 1,000ish feet taller and covered in snow year round.

We got to the top of the volcano and realized we (meaning me) were woefully underprepared to do any meaningful hiking. No sunblock, no hat, hiking sandals instead of hiking shoes, and not enough layers. So instead, the kindly park ranger volunteer suggested we walk about half a mile out of the ranger station to the mouth of the volcano to feel like we got the experience. 

Done. I felt like I was walking on the surface of Mars. Lots of rock, lava-sand and nothingness. The trail meanders down into the volcano, but after just 10 minutes I didn't feel I would gain anything more from the landscape so we headed back to the car.

The clouds started rolling in making scenic views impossible. So we drove down a few thousand feet back to vegetation. It was drizzling but I was determined to hike and thankfully Matthew was willing to indulge me. We're Oregonians, a little rain doesn't scare us!!

It's amazing to me how different the landscape was just a few minutes from the top. A few minutes lower and it became lush and forested. But back to our little hike, which wasn't a hike but a rocky nature walk. We couldn't get over how quiet it all was. Only an occasional chirp of a bird could be heard in addition to the movement of our shoes. We hiked for a while before realizing we would never get to appreciate the view into the volcano promised by the hike due to the cloud cover, so like the rest of our hiking experiences that week, we abandoned ship and went back to the car.

I really don't think of Matthew or myself as quitters, but I guess vacation versions of ourselves made us economists in terms of enjoyment to exertion ratios. Next time we go back we promise we will be better little excursionists.