We had the great pleasure of visiting Haleakala National Park on Maui, Hawai'i, last week. We drove up to the summit parking lot, which is above 10,000 feet altitude. You can see the volcanoes of the Big Island from there, prominently.
We didn't really hike in the crater, though I have on a previous trip, and would have if time permitted. For the runner, I'd recommend having a partner pick up at a lower parking lot, and catch a bit of crater time. I've heard of some folks running all the way down to the Hana side. We also didn't catch the sunrise, which is reputed to be amazing. Haleakala is very much worth the visit, any time of the day. There are big telescopes up top, off limits, but indicative of the star-gazing potential.
Our views were spectacular, with the clouds beneath us, rolling through the valleys. We drove through the clouds, to reach the summit. The rare silversword plant is easy to spot up top. The ground is red lava rock. The views of the valley and ocean are also remarkable.
I'll throw up another post on the other sights of Maui, but I wanted to string a number of photos here, for easy recollection and sharing.
