We planned ahead on Friday for the trip to the Haleakala summit for sunrise. Stopped at a Shell to fill up the car to make sure we had adequate fuel for the ride to the top and back . While there we got two large cups of hot water and tea bags so we’d have portable cups for the ride up early in the morning. The we stopped at a Starbucks to get 1 cup of coffee and several paper rings to go around the hot cups. The tea water was really, really hot!
Back at the condo we drank the tea for an evening treat. Knowing that the temperature could be as low as 47 F and winds 15 to 25 mph, we assembled our wardrobe for the morning adventure. Long pants, 3 shirt layers, , warm socks, rain jackets and hats. Also organized the photographic equipment so there would be less fumbling in the dark at the summit. Made coffee for the morning. Showered and to bed pretty early–about 9:30 PM. Set the alarm for 3 AM. Ugh! A short night in store. We plan to leave no later than 3:30 AM.
3:00 AM the alarm sounds. It’s up and get dressed, make the coffee, load up the car. We’re on our way about 3:15 AM. Earlier departure means there is a higher probability of being able to park at the summit.
Not too much traffic to start out. Only 1 car ahead of us until we turn off on the Haleakala Crater Road. Then we caught up to about 5 in front and soon there were 5 behind us making the winding drive up the mountain. So, we arrived got close to the NPS gate where people have to pay. There must have been 20+ cars in front of us and we were pretty much at a dead stop. A traffic jam at about 4:30 in the morning!
When we got to the booth we showed them Joyce’s Senior Pass so we didn’t have to pay the $15 entrance fee. Nice! The attendant was also named Joyce and remarked on it. A quick stop 1 mile up the road for a potty break and then continued on up the road to the top.
We were lucky! The road to the summit parking was not closed and we drove up in hopes of actually finding a parking spot. All the lined spots were taken so we just pulled along the curb and shut off the motor. Now, it’s 5:30-ish and sunrise is at 5:55 AM. We first climbed to the overlook building, but there were just too many people to get a good spot. Since we had been there on Monday evening, we knew that the short path on the opposite side of the parking lot was a good spot. Fortunately, there were only 2 or 3 other folks there. Gary had a good spot to set up his tripod and get set for the sunrise.
Sure enough, the sun came up on time! Got some photos and then turned around to capture a few images of the volcano’s shadow on the opposite side. Finished up on the summit around 6:45 and drove down to the visitor center about 0.1 mile down the road. Here we had some additional photo opportunities of the crater which we hadn’t seen in the dark nor on Monday when it was really cloudy.
We started down the volcano about 7:15 AM, but stopped to do two geocaches on the way down. Trying to keep up our 3/day schedule so we can get to 2400 caches while here in Hawaii. We are certain to make it now!
Had to make a stop at Target to get a card reader so Gary could download some photos from the camera cards he’s been filling up. Maybe there’ll be some photos here some day!
Back to the condo around 10:30 AM and ready for a rest. Gary napped in front of the TV for a while and Joyce logged our caches from the past couple of days. The TV was on FOX (ugh!) where some of the Republican debate was showing. Finally got tired of that and had a nice lunch on the lanai.
Oh, what a beautiful mornin’
Everything’s goin’ my way
etc……..