Haleakala National Park

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.

Sahale Arm In September

Saturday snuck up on me this weekend, fast, after having been gone for part of last week. There are so many great places to go run and hike in the North Cascades, but I didn't make Saturday plans until Friday night.  Rather than come up with something new, I cannonballed up to Sahale Arm and checked out the fall colors.

You just can't go wrong with Sahale Arm.  It is one of the prettiest trails you'll ever hit. No exaggeration. An out and back, going up to 7800 feet, it can take you through several microclimates, which was the case on Saturday. The trail up to Cascade Pass was covered in clouds. Sort of cold.  Clouds then were streaming over the pass, like a waterfall, the wind blowing at a chilling clip. Only a few 100 meters higher, and the sun came out. From above, I watched the clouds pouring through.  Higher still, and a different chill set in. I spent much of the day above the clouds. Glad I brought an extra layer.

The fall colors have arrived. My friend Seth went up here a couple weeks ago--it should be interesting to compare pics.  The views of the Cascades are normally spectacular, but as one or two photos below show, there is a haze in the air now from the forest fires in Eastern Washington.

I saw a full flock of ptarmigan.  I chased a grouse down the trail for 100 yards.  No bears this time around. I once saw seven bear here on one trip.

I made it up to the Sahale Camp, 5.7 miles in, 5.7 out. Up, then down. The distance is deceiving, as this is a slower hike/run, due to the sights and pitch of the trail.  I jogged much of the way down. Listened to U2's Achtung Baby on the drive home, twice.