Last Day on Maui: Taking it all in

   Let's say you only have one more day on Maui... where would you go? I know my answer, Haleakala Volcano. At just over 10,000ft it is a view unlike any other on the island. It can be fierce winds and sub freezing temperatures. There can even be snow and ice. But the view is worth it. And now being the middle of summer it can be downright pleasant finding a comfortable spot and enjoying how the view changes through the different colors of dawn.

  We found a spot right along the crater rim to usher in the sun. When we first arrived the stars were out with the constellation Orion visible above the horizon. You can even make it out in the picture above. Look for three bright stars in a line, that's his belt, and three more in a line jutting off diagonally from the belt, that's his sword. Science city where our Maui observatories and astronomers peer into the night sky was lit up with a pink sky at one point. There were so many changing colors it was hard to figure out where to point the camera.

  Not being a secret sunrise spot, the moment the sun appeared there was a audible murmur of awe from the many onlookers. Unless you are totally enveloped in a cloud I can't imagine a bad sunrise up here. Hikers cast long shadows as they got an early start down the sliding sands trail deep into the Manhattan sized crater. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, the massive volcanoes on the Big Island, look like floating islands in a sea of clouds in the background.
  On the way down we stopped at Hossmer's Grove located just inside the park entrance. There is a quick little nature walk that goes to this gorge where scarlet colored Hawaiian honeycreepers flutter from treetop to treetop. This is a wonderful place for bird enthusiast or anyone who wants to see something you can only see here in Hawaii.
  After the beautiful start to the day I spent a while trying to figure out the best place to take in our last Maui sunset for a while. After getting a call from my friend saying he was going to be surfing with his son out on the North shore I knew the place I had to be. While cheering my friends on from the upper parking lot at Hookipa beach park the sun gave us one final farewell. Maui has been too kind.

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