Busy August
August is coming to a close, and what a busy month it was! Here are a few highlights of the month.
Trip To Honolulu.
On the first week of August, Gwen attended a week-long conference in Honolulu as part of her job. Coincidentally, her good friend from grad-school, Leyla, was getting married the same week, thus I traveled to Honolulu to join Gwen so we could attend Leyla and Andy's wedding. They got married on a beautiful day at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, overlooking the ocean and Diamond Head. At the wedding we had the chance to share with all of friends back on Oahu and we had a terrific time there.
August is coming to a close, and what a busy month it was! Here are a few highlights of the month.
Trip To Honolulu.
On the first week of August, Gwen attended a week-long conference in Honolulu as part of her job. Coincidentally, her good friend from grad-school, Leyla, was getting married the same week, thus I traveled to Honolulu to join Gwen so we could attend Leyla and Andy's wedding. They got married on a beautiful day at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, overlooking the ocean and Diamond Head. At the wedding we had the chance to share with all of friends back on Oahu and we had a terrific time there.
After the wedding, I traveled back to Maui the next day to return to work and Gwen completed her conference in Honolulu. At the end of the week, Gwen came back to Maui and we attended my employer's (Austin, Tsutsumi and Associates) summer dinner at the Makawao Steak House in upcountry Maui.
On August 15, I celebrated my 41st birthday along with some of our closest friends here on the islands. (See Previous Blog Entry)
Gwen's Trip to San Diego
As part of her job, Gwen had the chance to travel to San Diego for a few days. She visited another friend from grad school who lives there. Gwen reports that she had great time there, enjoyed authentic mexican food and almost made it across the border to Tijuana, Mexico.
Camping Inside the Crater of a Volcano
So, What am I to do on a long weekend while Gwen is in San Diego? Well, I decide to go on an adventure of my own and camp inside the crater of the Heleakala Volcano. This adventure took place August 19-20, 2005. Friday, August 19 was a day off from work in celebration of Hawaii's Statehood Day. That morning, after packing my new backpack with 35 pounds of camping gear, including seven liters of water, I drove my car up Haleakala and after obtaining a camping permit and watching an instructional video at the Park's Visitor Center, I drove up to the 8,000 Ft elevation mark, where I left my car at the Halemau'u trail head, the eventual end of my hiking trip. From there, I hitchhiked a ride to the summit of Haleakala, where I began my journey inside the volcano at the Sliding Sands trail head, about 9,200 feet above sea level.
While not really cold, the weather inside the crater was moderately windy and cloudy. Soon after starting down on the trail, clouds made it impossible to see back to the summit, or down much further down the trail. Even then, on occasions the clouds would break long enough to reveal the contrast between the red bare soil and the green where some vegetation manages to live in spite of the harsh conditions.
Inside the crater, the ahinahina or "silversword" plant is a common sight. This plant is found only in Hawaii and lives only on the high elevations of Maui. They can live up to 50 years before they bloom and die. The plant on the photo is a rare sight of such plant, which is about to end its long life after blooming.
The old native hawaiians did not know silver, thus they had no word to describe silvery things. Therefore, when they discovered this plant they used the word "ahinahina" which simply means "gray-gray".
The Ahinahiha was once endangered and while they are a common sight inside the volcano, they are still protected by law. People are not supposed to touch them or even stand close to them lest their shallow roots be damaged.
Hiking down Sliding Sands Trail, the weather continued to deteriorate, with a persistent drizzle that got my jacket, shorts and my shoes wet. Still, the workout I got from hiking kept me warm. Visibility was poor most of the time. Finally, as the trail approached the bottom of the valley, the clouds opened, revealing the extent and beauty of the Haleakala Crater. The picture on the right is taken from Sliding Sands Trail, approximately three miles from the trailhead, looking west towards the Paliku Campground.
Once I reached the valley, I had to make a choice as to where to continue. My original plan had been to continue on towards the Kapalaoa Cabin and explore as much as possible of the crater valley before heading back to my destination, the Holua Campground. That would have added about four miles to my journey.
Gwen's Trip to San Diego
As part of her job, Gwen had the chance to travel to San Diego for a few days. She visited another friend from grad school who lives there. Gwen reports that she had great time there, enjoyed authentic mexican food and almost made it across the border to Tijuana, Mexico.
Camping Inside the Crater of a Volcano
So, What am I to do on a long weekend while Gwen is in San Diego? Well, I decide to go on an adventure of my own and camp inside the crater of the Heleakala Volcano. This adventure took place August 19-20, 2005. Friday, August 19 was a day off from work in celebration of Hawaii's Statehood Day. That morning, after packing my new backpack with 35 pounds of camping gear, including seven liters of water, I drove my car up Haleakala and after obtaining a camping permit and watching an instructional video at the Park's Visitor Center, I drove up to the 8,000 Ft elevation mark, where I left my car at the Halemau'u trail head, the eventual end of my hiking trip. From there, I hitchhiked a ride to the summit of Haleakala, where I began my journey inside the volcano at the Sliding Sands trail head, about 9,200 feet above sea level.
While not really cold, the weather inside the crater was moderately windy and cloudy. Soon after starting down on the trail, clouds made it impossible to see back to the summit, or down much further down the trail. Even then, on occasions the clouds would break long enough to reveal the contrast between the red bare soil and the green where some vegetation manages to live in spite of the harsh conditions.
Inside the crater, the ahinahina or "silversword" plant is a common sight. This plant is found only in Hawaii and lives only on the high elevations of Maui. They can live up to 50 years before they bloom and die. The plant on the photo is a rare sight of such plant, which is about to end its long life after blooming.
The old native hawaiians did not know silver, thus they had no word to describe silvery things. Therefore, when they discovered this plant they used the word "ahinahina" which simply means "gray-gray".
The Ahinahiha was once endangered and while they are a common sight inside the volcano, they are still protected by law. People are not supposed to touch them or even stand close to them lest their shallow roots be damaged.
Hiking down Sliding Sands Trail, the weather continued to deteriorate, with a persistent drizzle that got my jacket, shorts and my shoes wet. Still, the workout I got from hiking kept me warm. Visibility was poor most of the time. Finally, as the trail approached the bottom of the valley, the clouds opened, revealing the extent and beauty of the Haleakala Crater. The picture on the right is taken from Sliding Sands Trail, approximately three miles from the trailhead, looking west towards the Paliku Campground.
Once I reached the valley, I had to make a choice as to where to continue. My original plan had been to continue on towards the Kapalaoa Cabin and explore as much as possible of the crater valley before heading back to my destination, the Holua Campground. That would have added about four miles to my journey.
Given the fact that it was already getting late in the afternoon, and that my 35 pounds of gear were starting to put some strain on my back, it was easy to decide to go directly to the Holua Campground, some 3.8 Miles away. I figured that it would be easier to get to camp early, set up my tent and then explore that side of the crater without the burden of my camping gear. Sounds good in theory, right? More on this later.
Continuing towards the Holua Campground, the trail passes between two volcanic cinder cones, Ka Moa o Pele and Halali`i. The point on shown here is about 1.6 miles from the Sliding Sands Trail split shown on the previous photo. This trail junction between the two cinder cones can be seen here, with Ka Moa o Pele on the right and Halali`i on the left. At the sign, is the end of the Halemau'u Trail, which will take me to the Holua Campground and eventually back to my car the next day. On the background is the southern ridge of the Haleakala Crater, looking towards the Kipahulo and Kaupo Valley areas.
To reach this point there is an approximately 135 feet climb from the bottom of the valley, which is the only real climb of the hike trip before reaching the Holua Campground. Here the weather started to deteriorate and once again my clothes, which by now were dry, started to get wet in the cold, persistent drizzle. By now, all I wanted was to reach the Holua Campground and take a nap. From this point, the landscape changes from dry and barren to wetter and greener. I continued hiking past the Silversword Loop and finally, after four hours of hiking, tired, cold, wet and under the rain, I saw the Holua Cabin. I followed the signs to the tent campground, set my tent and looked forward to get dry and warm.
I had previously said that my plan was to set camp and then explore the crater without the burden of my gear. I had also envisioned going on a night-time hike, looking at the stars and perhaps seeing the Milky Way across the sky.Well, by now the rain had ruined that plan. What happens next is that after changing to dry clothes and eating dinner consisting of two cans of tuna, two packs of pilot crackers and two hard-boiled eggs, I had to spend the next thirteen hours inside a 6' x 3' tent, just trying to stay warm and catching a few hours of fitful sleep. The rain finally stopped around 2:00 AM and I managed to take a peek outside. I was hoping to see lots of stars in the sky, but that was not possible with a full moon in the sky.
Other than that, the only thing that brought some sense of pleasure to the night was when the quietness was broken by the calls of birds flying through the valley.
By 5:30 in the morning, I was just happy to be able to step outside the tent to stretch my legs and get my back off the uncomfortable sleeping mat.
My reward for a long, restless night finally came with the light of dawn. By now, the weather was clear and sunrise came in spectacular fashion. The red and orange colors of the crater rim in the distance, contrasting with the blue sky and green foreground made it for a nice start of a new day. Still, I knew that ahead of me laid the rest of the Halemau`u Trail, with its 1400' climb before reaching the trailhead where I had left my car yesterday. Nene Geese, the endangered species that is also Hawaii's State Bird, has a home in the crater. I counted about 30 Nene flying around that morning.
Morning at the Holua Campground included a pleasant surprise. A group of ladies camping at the Ranger's Shed next door were kind enough to offer me hot cup of coffee and and a hot breakfast. Turns out that these ladies work for the County of Maui. One of them works at the Human Resources Department and actually knew my name from my previous engineering job applications with the County... We had even spoken on the phone before! Small island! The last thing on my mind when I set out to go camping is that I would go to the most remote part of Maui and someone there would know my name.I am so happy they were there to make my morning so much better and to help me get off to a good start on my way out of the crater and back to my car. My original backpack load, minus three liters of water, minus most of the food, still felt heavy on my back.
From the Holua Campground, it is 3.2 miles to the the parking lot; A lot less than the 11.6 miles of yesterdays hike, but the last leg of today's hike involves a brutal 1400' ascent from the valley up to the trailhead thru a series of seemingly never-ending switchbacks along the side of the mountain. The photo on the left shows the above-mentioned mountain side from about a mile away.
Once on the switchbacks, I found out the climb was not as brutal as I expected. Maybe it was the great breakfast I had. Maybe I was just happy to be near my car. In any case, the views from the mountain were about the best of the whole trip. As I climbed up the mountain, each switchback offered a better view of the valley below. Finally, after about three hours, I made it back to my car and I was on my way home. I was happy to complete my adventure and I am looking forward to do it again sometime.
To See All Photos of the Haleakala Camping Trip, Click on this Link:
Snorkeling Trip To Molokini
The August adventures concuded with a trip to Molokini Island, off the coast of Maui for a morning of snorkeling on one of the prime snorkeling spots of the island.
Here are a few selected photos of the trip.
Arriving at Molokini. We Traveled to Molokini aboard the "Four Winds II" catamaran, which operates out of Maalaea Bay on Maui. On the way there, we say a full moon over Barber's Point in Maalaea.
Snorkelers at Molokini. (right) and Gwen having fun in Molokini. Although we have seen places with more diverse marine life, we did enjoy the visibility, which was at least a hundred feet. We did see a shark, and that was a highlight of the trip.
Diving down. Gwen took this photo from the lower deck of the boat, which had glass windows.To See All Photos of the Molokini Snorkeling Trip, Click on this Link:
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