Aloha and Mahalo Maui

After we finished house sitting for Kelly and Allan Cozette and I set out on a mission to see the remaining eastern shore of the island we had not gotten to yet. From the house in Haiku we hitched up to the 10,000 ft summit of Haleakala, House of the Sun, "the world's largest dormant volcano". The road to the top from sea level to summit is only 37 miles, ending above the clouds. From there we spent three days packing across the crater floor and descending down the Kaupo Gap on the eastern side of the National Park.

Yellow Line Shows Our Route.

Once we reached the Kipahulu area on the eastern coast we camped for a couple of nights before continuing through Hana and back around, Northwest, to complete our circuit. The trip took a total of 6 days and was a great end to our stay on the island. We managed to circumnavigate the entire island while we were there for our month and two weeks, seeing everything there is to see on a backpackers budget. From our calculations we spent roughly $500 each while on the island, including concert tickets and a couple of nights eating out. Not bad considering Maui will probably be the most expensive leg of our trip.

Here are the pictures from our last bout of backpacking around up and over Haleakala and around the Eastern coast.

The 'Ahinahina, "Silversword" is found in the Haleakala crater and nowhere else in the world. It's leaves are covered in small silver colored hairs to reflect sunlight and retain moisture. It is a member of the Asteraceae or sunflower family.

Areas of the crater floor are devoid of life. No plants, insects or animals are found here. It is uncomfortably silent. It's rarely windy and on calm days scientific instruments used to measure sound have read zero decibels.

In such a lunar scape we thought it appropriate to take gravity defying pictures.

Near the Paliku camp. On the other side of the ridge is a restricted tropical rainforest preserve.

Views of the ocean coming down the 7000ft decent of the Kaupo Gap.

The steep 8.6 miles to the coast was hard on our knees and feet, but worth the view.

When we made it to the coast we camped for two days and played in the pools before continuing through Hana and completing our circuit.

The "Seven Sacred Pools" are formed in a gulch as the rain water flows down the mountain out of the rain forest valley.

The pools are right where the steam meets the ocean. The top pool at the largest waterfall has been carved out to a depth of 40ft!

A beautiful red sand beach with clear blue water and a perfect wave break made for good swimming. In Hana.

You enter the cave by swimming a little ways under water. The cave extends 800 ft back or so.

Maui Pictures 1

By request I am uploading some of the pictures I have taken. Most of these pictures are from camping around the island in different places.

Just Because I like Palm Trees...

Cozette and me at Iao Valley

Camping near Lahina

Good Morning Cozette!

Sunset in Lahina on the 4th of July

Some nice spots we found walking around the West side of the Island. 

Second most windy place Iv'e ever camped... good for pictures, not for sleeping. the tent was laid down on top of us all night!

Camping and playing at the beaches south of Makena.

So there you have it! Some of the better pictures from our first 3 weeks in Maui. I hope it is enough for everyone to live vicariously through us. We are House sitting now in Haiku, I'll have a post about that soon. Missing friends and family hope to talk on the phone soon. We bought tickets for our next destination today... The Philippines!

The 4th of July

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. We're beginning to learn this. When we hitched into Lahaina yesterday for the fireworks display we had no idea where we would be sleeping after the festivities ended, but we both agreed that we would be able to make our way back down the road, south about 6 miles, to the beach where we could camp... somehow. as the afternoon was winding down and the waves of people started to flow in we laid down our packs in the park facing the ocean. Just as we did this, two giggling girls came out of the water and sat down next to us. Hana and Aurora, two excited, freshly graduated high school students, quickly became our buddies as we chatted and laughed at intoxicated people trying to dance. We met "Mom", Gayle, an amazing lady finishing up her PhD. studying the sleeping patterns of women during pregnancy, and we got to chat with Courtney, a woman who holds an impressive 7 Olympic Gold Medals, and at one time the women's world record in the 100 yard dash. Together the six of us laughed and enjoyed the evening of fireworks, music and shave ice. At the end of the night we had new friends and a starry convertible ride to our camping spot. That's how you go with the flow. We had an amazing time, all because of a simple "Howzit". Have a great time ladies. You will accomplish everything you are working toward, I know it.

And here are some picture of the dazzling fireworks display in the Lahaina Harbor.