Sunrise at Haleakala National Park

   Haleakala National Park is on the southeastern part of Maui.  Sunrise at Haleakala was at 5:35am.  Considering the 6 hour time difference between Maui and New Jersey, we decided it would be easiest on our first day before we adjusted to the time change.  So we left at 3:30 am for about a 1.5 hr drive from Kihei.  Once we started the climb to the summit, it was a dark and winding road.  I must say, I was screaming at Matt to slow down!  lol... we made it safely up just shortly after 5pm.
Cold and windy, temperatures had dropped to about 40F at the summit. We had on long sleeved thin sweatshirts and windbreakers on and we were still cold!  So I wrapped myself up in a beach towel... but I highly suggest some gloves... our fingers were pretty numb out there trying to take pictures.

 

   After the sun was fully up, we wandered around a little taking scenic photos and pictures of the plant life.  It's also like a desert up here around the volcano!  But definitely still so breathtaking.  We were even fortunate to see a Silversword plant. A rare endangered plant found only on the

Silversword of Haleakala (Maui)

island of Maui, and nevertheless, at an elevation of 6,900 to 9,800 ft.  Too bad it wasn't flowering then.

   The wait.. the cold... the early rise... completely worth it.  The view was magnificent!  Between the glow of the sun over the horizon and some smaller peaks and the rolling fluffy clouds below us, it was breathtaking.  We took many many pictures and walked around the area after the sun was up.  There's a couple of lookout points prior to the summit observatory that you can see the sunrise from.  About 7am we began our descend.  It was back to the hotel for a morning a nap before we head out to Lahaina and the Feast of Lele.

Arriving in Maui

Flying in from Newark, NJ took a total of 12 hrs in the air.  We had a brief layover in LA where we found the airport to be partly under construction.  However, we grabbed our lunch and hopped back onto the plane.  We arrived early evening on Wednesday, June 22nd and picked up our wheels... a 2 door Nissan Altima.  Luckily, I brought my GPS  and we cruised down the highway towards our hotel in Kihei.  First view of Maui was definitely tropical with beautiful blue waters, but not as "green and lush" as you typically think Hawaii is.  Kihei is a small city with a mix of locals and tourists.  Kihei is considered to be in the southern part of Maui, where most tourists tend to stay more on the western side.  We stayed at the Maui Coast Hotel which is right across the street from Kamaole Beach I.  Many of the beaches in the south were all within 10 minutes away.  I had picked this location because I knew I wanted to see the sunrise at Haleakala Crater on the eastside... driving from the westside may have been too tiring that early in the morning.  However, you're more likely to get southern swells and rough waters in the south.  Good for surfing and boarding... but not always snorkeling. (but there are suppose to be some good snorkeling spots in the south too).  Anyways... 6 hr time difference from NJ... so we took an early night with the plan to wake up early for the sunrise.