A few weeks ago I was in Hawaii. This thread is Maui.
Pictures from Honolulu are in a previous thread.
The first sight I saw upon landing at the Maui airport were these, the West Maui Mountains.
Maui consists of 2 volcanoes, with a valley between. The West Maui Mountains are the eroded remains of one of those volcanoes, long since gone extinct. The other is Haleakala, dormant since the 17th Century but very much still alive, and vastly more massive. Haleakala's peak is 10,000 ft above sea level, but if measured from its base at the sea floor it's bigger than Everest.
Haleakala is a US national park. It takes an hour or 2 to drive up, but you can go all the way to the summit. It's a gorgeous trip, above the clouds.
Pano.
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The area around the visitor center looks like Mars.
But it's nothing until you look over the 7-miles-long crater. Is there any more alien place on earth than this?
Pano.
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From the top you can look across the ocean and see the hulking mass of Mauna Loa, Hawaii's Big Island, largest volcano in the world. From its base underwater Mauna Loa is over 30,000' tall. I believe it's the only mountain in the world that tops that mark.
But the real treat from Haleakala is the sunset. I hear the sunrise is even better, but I'm not getting up that early. The buildings you see here are a NASA astronomical observatory.
That spec just to the right of the sun? That'd be Mercury. Let me tell you, looking out on Mercury from a landscape that could be Mars is a hell of an experience.
The top of Haleakala has some of the best stargazing in the world. I was hoping to see the
zodiacal lights, which are even dimmer than the Milky Way, and something I've never been able to catch. Alas, the full moon spoiled it.
OK. New day, new destination. Let's go to Lahaina town. But first, a quick stop at McGreggor Point, an outcropping into Maui's Maalaea Bay. McGreggor Point is tucked away off the road to Lahaina, invisible to the majority of tourists.
That's Haleakala on the left, covered by clouds. On the right is Kaho'olawa, smallest of Hawaii's 8 main islands.
Pano.
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Lahaina is the ancient capital of Maui, and seat of the Hawaiian kingdom until 1845. When Europeans first began interacting with Hawaiians, Lahaina was the chief port of the islands. Today it looks like a tropical version of a New England fishing village, which is, essentially, exactly what it is.
You're looking at Lanai island. And a mailbox.
The center of the old town is Banyan Tree Park. One tree takes up the entire square.
Flanking the park is Hawaii's first European-style courthouse.
Why not?
This is Maui's most famous beach, Big Beach. Little Beach is around the corner, and is Maui's most famous
nude beach. We didn't go.
Pano.
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Actually, the only beach we spent a whole lot of time at was Kalepolepo Beach, a little public park near our airbnb.
Those are the West Maui Mountains, btw.
The reason we were actually in Hawaii in the first place was for my cousin's wedding. Not a bad little spot.
Pano.
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That's Molokini, not one of the main islands.
Finally, on our last day, we drove the road to Hana. Hana is a tiny village on the far eastern edge of Maui, 40 miles or so from the center, and 70 miles from Lahaina. Nobody cares about Hana. The interesting thing is the
road to Hana. It curves around the shore of the island, through the rainforest, and is a narrow, twisty, rural road. You go about 15 miles per hour and stop every couple of miles to see a waterfall or something. It's an all day trek to get to Hana, but the trip is the very definition of the term
the journey is its own reward.
Pano.
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Near Hana, towards the end of the road, there's a black sand beach at Waianapanapa State Park. It's volcanic.
Pano.
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And that's it. Next day we took off back to the mainland.
Here I am, stupidly walking down to the water right where that sign several pictures up warned of imminent death.
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