Haleakala National Park-Haleakala Summit

After two days in Kipahulu at the base of Haleakala, I spent Saturday, May 31st en route to the 10,023-foot summit of this massive volcano. Unfortunately, the most direct route to the summit was closed due to a landslide, so I had to retrace my steps along the treacherous Hana Highway. Along the way, I made two stops that turned out to be pleasant surprises. The first was Wai‘anapanapa State Park, located slightly west of the town of Hana at the end of a residential road. Marked only by a small, unassuming sign, this park featured black sand beaches, an impressive lava tube, and a series of freshwater caves filled with turquoise water. The second stop was Waikamoi Nature Trail, a short, easy-to-moderate stroll through a stand of old-growth tropical forest. The trail was well-maintained and featured plaques identifying the various trees, shrubs, and flowers.

I arrived at Hosmer Grove Campground (~6,000 feet) a little after noon. This was probably the earliest that I had ever arrived at a campground, so I was a bit confused about how to set up a tent in broad daylight. After setting up camp, I wanted to get in a decent hike before it got too late, so I set off for Halemau'u trail and hiked the 3.7 miles (r/t) to and from the rim of the crater. I honestly wasn't prepared for the spectacular vista that greeted me at the crater's edge. The 'crater' (actually, it is the convergence of two erosional valleys) was filled with clouds pouring in through a gap facing out over the ocean. The heat from the valley floor prevented the clouds from extending all the way across the 'crater', so several cinder cones were visible in the distant east side of the valley.

After lunch at the rim, I headed back to the campground to hike the short trail through the adjacent forest. The size, diversity, and fragrance of the trees was overwhelming. Turns out that 'Hosmer', the namesake of the grove, planted subalpine trees from across the world during a forestry experiment in the early 1900's. Ironically, this non-native patch of forest houses the greatest density of birds in the entire park and is one of the most popular trails. Upon returning from this short hike, I discovered that a group of hippies had staked out the site next to mine and claimed the firepit that was clearly part of my site (their site was equipped with a less desirable elevated grill). I resisted the urge to be confrontational and instead set out for the summit to watch a sunset from above the clouds. At 10,023 feet, Haleakala is the highest point on Maui but, if measured from its base at the ocean floor, it is over 30,000 feet and is actually the world's third-highest mountain. I conquered this majestic peak in my Subaru Impreza (you can drive up to 10,003 feet) and watched a fantastic sunset followed by a futile attempt to identify constellations in one of the world's clearest night skies.

Back at camp, the hippies had a raging fire going in my fire pit and were engaged in all sorts of revelry. Turns out that they were pretty nice folk, and I accepted their offer of beer and poi as an appease-ment for the annexation of my fire pit. As I was planning to rise at 3:30 am to drive to the summit for the sunrise, I turned in relatively early. I had been warned that traffic to the summit could back up a mile or more prior to sunrise, so I woke up excessively early. Although impressive, I am not sure it was worth the sleep deprivation, two-hour wait, and 45 degree morning temperatures. Immediately adjacent to the summit is the Keonehe'ehe'e (Sliding Sands) Trail, a 5.2-mile strenuous hike with a 2,000-foot elevation change. Combine this with the 10,000-foot altitude and my severely bruised thighs (see previous post) and you can probably see why I nearly died coming back up the ridge. The hike down to the cinder cone was actually fantastic. The perspective from the floor of the 'crater' was incredible and the trail was flanked by numerous instances of the endangered Haleakala silversword (ahina ahina), an ephemeral plant found only on the slopes of this volcanic crater.

Haleakala National Park-Kipahulu Subunit

To set the scene, Haleakala National Park preserves the only contiguous vertical section of habitat extending from the 10,000-foot summit of Haleakala ('House of the Sun') to the coastal rainforest at sea level. The Kipahulu subunit comprises the protected lands along the coast and is currently accessible only by the tortuous Hana Highway that runs along the north coast of Maui.

Although scenic, the Hana Highway winds its way for over 40 miles up and around numerous coastal mountains. Despite being heavily traveled, the highway has dozens of one-lane bridges and a speed limit that ranges from 15-35 mph. Of course, when I arrived in Maui on Thursday, May 29 at ~5:00 pm, I didn't account for two things: 1.) that it would take me 3 hours to travel 40 miles on this road and 2.) that the sun actually sets earlier in the tropics at this time of the year than it does at home in temperate latitudes.

As is my normal habit when camping, I arrived at the campground in Kipahulu well after dark and had to set up camp in the beam of my headlights. This was not before I almost plowed into a random cow that was sleeping in the road and had to drive over a bridge that had a sign proclaiming it was closed for safety reasons (please see accompanying pictures). Needless to say, I had no problem getting to sleep after 18 hours of traveling.

My internal East Coast clock had me up and about at 5 am Hawaii time on Friday, May 30th. To my surprise, I was camped out about 100 feet from a sea cliff overlooking a rugged volcanic coastline. My goal was to hike all of the trails in Kipahulu, camp out there again that night, and drive to the summit the following morning. After hiking several shorter trails, I packed a lunch and water and set out on the 4-mile r/t trail to Waimoku Falls, a 400-foot waterfall deep in the coastal rainforest of Kipahulu. Although relatively small by global standards, this is the tallest waterfall that I can remember seeing in person. I had lunch at the base despite numerous warnings that chunks of rock or logs could come crashing down from the crest of the falls above at any moment.

Exhausted from hiking all day, I decided to wrap up my day in Kipahulu by taking a dip in the Seven Sacred Pools of the Ohe'o Gulch. These pools cascade consecutively from a moderately-sized waterfall down into the ocean below, with each pool becoming shallower (and thus warmer) as you progress seaward. The pool closest to the ocean was ~70 degrees F and had a 40-foot ledge from which I jumped several times into the water below. Although it hurt like hell when I hit the water, it was so much fun that I continued to jump for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, I bruised the back of my legs so badly that I could barely walk the next day. Ordinarily, this would be manageable but, as you will see in the next post, some of my upcoming hikes had quite the change in elevation.

Inaugural Post

I am travelling back in time to when my Hawaiian adventure started. In truth, it is Thursday, June 12th, but these are the thoughts and ideas that I would have chronicled in the beginning if I wasn't such a slack-ass proscrastinator.

First off, let me set the context for this 'blog'. Somehow, I was selected to participate in the 2008 Summer Course in Microbial Oceanography at the University of Hawaii. This is a six-week laboratory-field training course for which all travel and lodging is provided along with a weekly stipend of ~$420. Apart from the obvious academic opportunity, I was also intrigued by the possibility of visiting the 7 National Park sites on the Hawaiian Islands. For those that are unaware, National Parks might be considered something of an obsession in my little world. Please refer to the complementary blog, NPU Adventures, for more information about this pursuit.

My goal is to provide some insight into my activities, both oceanographic and National Park-related, to friends and family who have given me the courtesy of acting like they care. For the first two weeks, I will provide themed summaries since I will be backlogging the entries. From here on out, I will try to update the blog on a daily basis, but I can't promise anything since we are in class or lab for 9 hours a day, 6 days a week. I don't pretend that what I say will be interesting, but Hawaii is certainly an interesting place so hopefully this 'blog' will be remotely entertaining.