After a delightful and relaxing first day we decided to push ourselves out of our comfort zones for day 2 on the lovely island of Maui. Today we made plans to visit Haleakalā National Park.
I've probably mentioned that we are working towards visiting as many national parks as possible while we meander around the United States. David has been working tirelessly this year to help us visit as many national parks as possible. It is nice to have a long term travel goal (I.e. visit all the national parks) while we hunt for the perfect place to retire.
Before we made the long trek to the park, David arranged lunch reservations at a wonderful restaurant: Hali'Imaile General Store. We will share more about the meal in another post, but suffice to say it was delicious and we got to enjoy some amazing food.
After the meal it was time to head to the national park. Haleakalā means "house of the sun" in Hawaiian. According to legend, the demigod Maui lassoed the sun from its journey across the sky as he stood on the volcano’s summit, slowing its descent to make the day last longer. In short, Haleakalā is a dormant volcano. No surprise there since we were on the Hawaiian Islands, but what might surprise you is that the road goes from sea level to the summit of 10,023 feet. It is one of the greatest elevation gains in the shortest distance in the world. Honestly, Haleakalā is deceiving to look at from the valley- it just doesn't look that big!
Needless to say, this visit was an epic adventure for me, but it also pushed David to his limits. For those of you who don't know my beloved suffers from extreme vertigo. If he is high up on a mountain side, ledge, or even atop a lighthouse tower his entire world starts to spin. It is rough for him. This road was a huge test to his abilities because once you hit 7,000 feet in elevation there are no more guardrails. It is just you, the car and a sheer drop off. Oh, and there are a lot of hairpin turns as well just to make it more fun.
Funny enough going up was not too bad. We made it to the top of the volcano and we were some of the only people at the summit in t-shirts. The temperature in the valley was around 83 that day, but up on the top of the volcano it was in the 30's with a strong wind blowing. I will never forget my first look down into the caldera. It was beautiful and awe inspiring.
You can see the direction that the lava flowed during the last eruption
David was excited that we got this certificate showing that we made it to the top.
Finally it was time to head back down the mountain. This was going to be the most tricky part of the journey. Most of the way down we were looking at open skies and sheer drop offs in addition to the constant hairpin turns everywhere. However, we worked as a team, stopped at a few places to "enjoy" the views and eventually made it back down the mountain.
I was so grateful for my husband's steady hands to safely get us up and down the volcano. This was especially true due to his vertigo. He did something that was not very enjoyable for him so that we could have an amazing experience visiting this beautiful park together. He made it possible for us to scratch off a very unique park that not many people get to visit. We were able to share incredible views and we overcame our worries and fears. I felt so incredibly lucky to have a second hugely successful day on Maui.
Of course, we finished our night right back on the beach at the resort. We held hands and walked along the shore. What a glorious day!
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