Live Aloha - Part 3

"House of the Sun"- Haleakala National Park

There are two separate and distinct destinations within the park. First, the Haleakala Summit and second, Oheo Gulch at Kipahula. The summit is 10,023 feet at the crater of the world's largest dormant volcano. There are hiking and horse trails down into the crater itself. One of the many memories of the day I spent at the summit is the striking quiet of the location. I have never been to a place that was so quiet and so monumental at the same time. I hiked part way down into the crater and the further away I was from the Visitor Center and the other visitors, the more I was surrounded by the stillness and the quiet of crater itself.

I stayed with a group of other travelers to view the sunset at Haleakala. The sun rises over the crater itself and is a major tourist draw. For those of us who hung around for the sunset, it was a chance to visit and share travel stories while we patiently waited. As the sun set, you could have heard a pin drop. Everyone went silent as the sun dropped through the clouds. It is an overused word but it was AWESOME.

I visited the Kipahula area of the park early on a glorious Hawaii day, getting there early to avoid the crowds who venture over to Hana for the day. This section of the park is on the "other side" of Hana and in one of the more remote (not easy to get to) parts of Maui. I lingered there for most of the day. It was just too beautiful to leave.

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