Maui: Day Five

June 5, 2016

Monday

Monday was our day to visit Haleakala, the big dormant volcano on Maui.

It was another long drive.

We stopped again at our little bakery.

This time we got sandwiches for our outing.

Frank got breakfast, even though we had eaten breakfast at the hotel. Haaa! He just couldn't resist.

And the guys, of course, got more pie.

I was a little nervous about visiting the volcano because the top is sitting at 10,000 feet.

We wanted to hike around and really see the place, but I have had problems with altitude sickness since I was a kid.  

I know that I am coming across as a super fun date.  

Frank is used to me and my issues...thankfully he loves me anyway.

I remember we used to go to the Sandia mountains in New Mexico for a family cookout breakfast every Memorial Day (or maybe labor day?). I would always look forward to this fun family time with my cousins.  But I always left feeling sick. And I would be sick for at least the rest of the day.

I had seen pictures of Haleakala on the internet before we came here and, honestly, I wasn't impressed.

My only thought was "desolate"

It looks like a desert.  Nothing too amazing.

But, oh, in person it is a totally different story!

The drive up is gorgeous with lush greenery

and as you drive up you go right through and above the clouds.

The top has the big crater filled with cinder cones

and it is just so many cool colors and is a landscape like nothing I've ever seen.

The clouds would roll in and out.

It was super cool.

The cinder cones.

WAY cooler in real life.

Once again, the GyPSy app was a great addition to our drive.

He gives stories and history of the area and does a great job of keeping it interesting.

We began the hike into the crater and I quickly realized that I was not going to do well

so I sent the boys on the hike and I opted to stay at the summit and just look around the visitors center and the other areas nearby.

I did a short 1/2 mile hike to an overlook.

The guys really enjoyed the hike into the crater and got some great pictures.

I'm so glad they did the hike.

This is a cool plant called a silver sword.

Again, way cooler in real life!

They look silver and actually shine like they are made of metal.

On the hike...

Frank took most of the pictures so we don't have many of him from that day but I found this one from the hike.

He borrowed my adorable hat, which I think he was glad about...

at 10,000 feet the sun was brutal and both he and Carter got a bit sunburned in spite of hats and sunscreen.

By the time the guys returned, I was pretty much sick as a dog.

I don't know why I react so badly to altitude!

But I can tell you that it made me nervous for girl's camp, which is coming up in July and is also at 10,000 feet.

There are a bunch of observatories at the top of Haleakala.

It isn't open to the public, unfortunately.

We drove back down and I honestly can't remember exactly what we did after that...

It took me several hours to recover from the nausea

and I had a horrible headache the rest of the day.

I'm so much fun.

But in spite of my lameness, it was a great day and we saw a beautiful volcano!