The Mysterious Cloud Forest of Maui

Forest in the Mist
Welcome to the Maui cloud forest
  Hiking through a cloud with soaring trees slowly fading away into the mist makes you feel like you are no longer on a tropical island. The temperature can plummet below freezing overnight and the wind makes the cloud come to life like a slow moving white river flowing through the forest. Enter the cloud belt, 7,000ft up on the slope of Haleakala volcano. Endemic birds like the I'iwi or scarlet honeycreeper chase each other from tree top to tree top bringing a stark red contrast to the misty green of the cloud forest.
Juvenile I'iwi (Scarlet honeycreeper)
A bright red flash hails the coming of an I'iwi bird
Hossmer's Grove is a beautiful campground and nature trail through a one hundred year old experimental forest. Pine, spruce, cedar, and eucalyptus still stand and wage war against the native fauna in the delicate ecosystem. It borders the Haleakala national park where rangers fight hard to hold the invasive species at bay. However, this alien forest has a way to transport you to another place, especially if you stay for the night. Bird calls will inevitably wake you up in the morning.

Towering blue gum eucalyptus
The cloud rolls in
  The weather here can change quite rapidly. When we started our half mile loop hike the cloud was so dense it saturated everything. Ten minutes in the fog lifted and we could see the summit of Haleakala soaring 3,000ft above us. By the time we made it back to the campsite fifteen minutes later the rain had started again.
A little Vermont in Hawaii?

Dana deciding to turn left

  It is wild to think that a few miles down below you might be eighty degrees and sunny. People are playing in the water at the beach. It makes you chuckle to look over at your hiking companions and see how many layers, coats, and winter hats you never thought you would need on Maui.

Not sure if Brian was trying to hide or just looking like it

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