Maui 4

One afternoon we decided to drive up to Haleakala National Park and check out the crater at the very tippy top. On the way up I started to get super nervous about the narrow, winding road to the visitor's center. What made it worse was the fog/cloud bank rolling in so our visibility was reduced. Being afraid of heights is a big bummer and D had to stop a couple times for me to get acclimated to the drive. He offered to turn around but I didn't want to be a big baby and ruin his chance to see the crater, so we pushed on! 

After a couple hours of driving, our little Jeep finally made it to the first visitor's center which is located just inside the official park entrance. I think it was $10 to enter. The park rangers seemed a little...grumpy? It was odd.



This center was tiny but had a lot of informative signs.

The Nene (pronounced "Nay-nay)" is Hawaii's state bird - close to being endangered. There were signs posted everywhere warning people to NOT FEED THE NENE! We didn't see any Nenes at all.

We went all the way to the top! So many switchbacks.

You never see phone booths anymore, right? Think about it - when is the last time you saw a honest-to-goodness phone booth? Maybe in some podunk town or something but we don't have any in Anchorage. This was the 2nd one we saw in Maui. I think D thought that I was making a big deal of this sighting but then a family came by and also took photos of this very same phone booth. The phone worked and everything!




Making calls to my imaginary friends.



I know next to nothing about birds but I'm becoming more interested in them. Love this little bandit bird with his mask. Anyone know what it's really called?

It was another set of switchbacks before we arrived at Visitor's Center #2. It closed at 3 p.m. so we weren't able to go inside. The air was noticeably thinner and colder up here. I think it's a 3 degree drop in temperature with every 1,000 feet? We brought pants and long-sleeve shirts to change into for our walk around the area.

The second main visitor center.

This was a HUGE desolate area. D and I both think it looks like what the surface of Mars would be. All red rock and mountains.

Made me nervous to look over the edge. A steep drop over the cliffs.

The structure in the photo is an enclosed information/viewing center. We drove up there and poked around.





This plant may have been the only greenery up in Haleakala.



More lava rock with all of it's interesting pits and crags.

Back down at Visitor Center #2.



The Ahinahina is a plant that only grows in Haleakala National Park - nowhere else in the world - and is now endgangered.



Juvenile Ahinahina.



Mature Ahinahina at the end of its growing period.



Last and final information center at top. Our little Jeep is there on the left.





The magnetic peak - the mapping feature on my iPhone didn't work so well up here.

The real magnetic peak.



The land mass in the distance in Hawaii - the Big Island.

We weren't allowed to drive any closer than this to the Observatory.

In the bathroom at Haleakala. Um, really? Has there been a big problem with people drinking out of the toilet?