Tueday

Tuesday

Tuesday we had early start.  We got up at 1:30 to be picked up by a bus at 2am that took us to the top of Haleakala.  It is the biggest volcano on Maui located in the northwest part of the island.  It actually is the northwest part of the island.  It is 10,000 ft high and the road to get to the top is 38 miles long.  It was about 4:30 by the time we made it to the top.  There we were.  Ten thousand feet up, above the clouds.  Then we waited.  We waited for about an hour to see the sunrise.  In that hour, we saw the sky turn a hundred different colors before the sun came out.  It was quite cold up there...about 25-30 degrees.  As it got brighter out, we could begin to see the bottom of the crater, and all the rocks and lava down there.  Finally, the sun popped over the clouds and the early rise and the cold were all worth while.  If anyone goes to Maui and doesn't see this...they're crazy.

The pre-dawn colors

Frozen Bride

The first hint of the sun

Keep it coming....

Ahhh, there it is.

Shortly after that, we traveled across the top of the crater to an observation point.  There happens to be military anti-missile defense facility on the top of Haleakala also.  We couldn't get very close to it, but it's probably the real reason why the road to the top of the mountain was in such good shape.

We also learned about a plant called Silver Sword.  This plant lives for about 30 years and only blooms once.  Here are some pix.

This is Silversword.  It is not blooming yet...maybe in a few years

The view from the other side of the crater.

These small Silversword are just babies.  They only grow up here.

This one is in full bloom.  It is very rare to see.

I couldn't resist this shot.

After taking some pix and enjoying the view it was time for the trip back down the volcano.  That's when the guys who drove us up, unloaded bikes from their trailer.  We road 30 miles down hill.  It was one crazy hairpin turn after the next.  What a rush, man.  We road right through the 2nd largest cattle ranch in the U.S.  That was cool.  

Eventually, we stopped at a restaurant for breakfast, then continued on the remaining 8 miles.  It rained during that portion, but it didn't really matter that much.  It only rains in that one area near the volcano.

We spent a few hours shopping around getting ready for Wednesday.  We needed some picnic food and some supplies to live for a week.  That's when we discovered you can by wine and liquor at Kmart, Walmart, Safeway, and just about any other store.

Dinner was killer.  We went to a Luau.  All the food and drinks you want.  The featured dish was Kalua pig.  The pig is burried and cooked under ground for 24 hours.  Near the beginning of hte luau, the signal is given by blowing into a conch shell.  Everybody gathers around and these two guys unburry the pig, which is wrapped in banana leaves.  Here's some pix

The food table was quite long and I didn't recognize any of the food.  Needless to say, it was all fantastic.  Mike has become a big fan of the pickled cabbage with cayenne pepper.