The summit of Haleakalā -- 10,023 feet above sea level

OK, I will be honest here….when I thought about going to Maui, taking the family to a mountain top nearly two miles above sea level never entered my mind. Although often obscured by clouds, Haleakalā is visible from everywhere in Maui, and from neighboring islands. The Road to Hana skirts the northern edge of the island, in part because it is easier than going up and over this towering dormant volcano. It is not the tallest point in Hawaii…for that you have to travel to the ‘Big Island’ and we had no plans to add a third island to our vacation adventure.

Many tourists trek to the 10,023 foot (3055m) summit of Haleakalā National Park to watch sunrise over the Pacific Ocean. With our Camp Daddy crowd, getting up at 3:30 in the morning to watch a sunrise in freezing temperatures seemed like a bridge too far (not to mention, reservations to enter the park are filled months ahead of time).

Our first hike in Haleakala National Park -- a nature trail at 6700 feet.

Another really cool activity is to rent a bike and ride down the mountain (a number of companies provide tours which include lunch, bike and helmet rentals). Unfortunately, we did not pack our bike trailer for this vacation, and the steep, windy, road did not seem like the best place for Noah to learn to ride a two-wheeler.

(We’ve added these activities to our ‘Must Do’ list for the next time we are in Maui.)

Instead, we packed a lunch and plenty of water and set off after an early breakfast.

We were a little apprehensive about altitude sickness, especially with our youngest campers, so we knew we would take our time traveling to the summit. We stopped for our first hike at Hosmer Grove, along a short nature trail at about 6700 feet, walking through a grove of rainbow eucalyptus trees that was really cool.

Our next stop was at the Visitor’s Center where we picked up some tips from the local rangers, bought a few souvenirs, and achieved the esteemed title of Junior Park Ranger.

We drover further up the volcano and parked for our next hike and lunch at 8000 feet. After traversing a rough, rocky path for about a mile, we were treated to beautiful views of the volcano’s crater and found a rocky overlook to have lunch. It rained on us a bit as clouds passed both above, below, and around us, but nothing more than a little shower. After lunch we went back to the car and headed for the summit.

Lunch on the edge of the crater. Staring into the sun for the picture. :)

Going from the coast of Maui to the summit of Haleakalā is the largest elevation gain in the shortest distance in the world. I was continuously amazed that we drove literally from along the ocean’s edge to over 10,000 feet in only a couple of hours. On a clear day, you can see the highest point in the Hawaiian Island chain, the volcano Mauna Kea over 70 miles away. It wasn’t a perfectly clear day but being able to look down at the clouds was pretty cool as well.

Dylan with some of the observatories (Air Force and U of Hawaii) on the summit.

We stayed at the summit until our little campers would no longer pose for photos. Actually, we’d already passed that point at about 9,000 feet but whose counting?! And….like any vacation day in Hawaii, we ended the day with some shave ice back at sea level.

Standing above the clouds.