Haleakala National Park on Maui first began in 1916 as the Hawaii National Park which at the time included the volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea located on the island of Hawaii. In 1961, the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was created as a separate park for the big island. The Maui park today features the dormant Haleakala volcano that last erupted between1480 and 1600 AD. When we were in Maui several years ago, we accidentally stumbled upon Haleakala National Park when we sought a safer route back to the western side of the island following a trip to Hana on the far east. We crossed along the northern coast on a very dangerous road with multiple crosses (denoting deaths there, we later learned). We decided to go back along the southern coast and found ourselves on unpaved roads plying through the dust of volcanic sands.
The Haleakala Crater, almost seven miles across and about 2,600 feet deep, is the highlight of the park. There are two main trails for visitors to follow into the crater. The sunrise is said to be spectacular. To see the sunrise, hikers can reserve one of three cabins located in the crater.The landscape at the park is surreal and almost other worldly, we discovered during our unplanned journey. I would like to return to Haleakala National Park to take lots of photographs. The ones I took that day are 35mm color slides that are not easily accessible to share now on my blog.
5 comments:
From the picture, it looks like an alien landscape. Cool that you found it, even if by accident. I wonder how many spend the night in tents rather than the cabins?
It does look like an alien landscape! The picture is so beautiful. It's no wonder that you want to go back. I'm so happy that I stumbled upon your blog. It's a great theme. Sometimes it's so easy to forget how many beautiful places there are in this country.
Donna, Donna's New Day
look at those swirls of colors!
Alex, the landscape was quite unexpected.
Thank you, Donna! We have an amazing country.
Melanie, the interesting thing is that the landscape there is so different from the beaches that we found elsewhere.
Let's go! I want to stay in one of those cabins. I've always wanted to go horseback riding and camping in that crater. (It's surprisingly COLD up there, on the rim, too.)
I used to want to be a volcanologist. Haleakala is one of the cooler ones. I want to see an eruption, one of these days, too.
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