Hiking Haleakala Crater, Maui
Hiking Trail thru Haleakala Crater During this rotation off the boat I wanted to do a little high altitude hike training. Contrary to most tropical islands, Hawaii would be the perfect place to accomplish this with its massive volcanoes and beautiful hikes in and around them. I had done the 12 mile hike through the crater of Haleakala Volcano once before and was eager to try it again. I remembered the changing landscapes, different colors of soil, and the silence that comes with hiking through this otherworldly terrain. Roof of lava tube Endemic Silversword I started out at the visitor center, just under 10,000ft down the sliding sands trail. This eventually lead 2,600ft down into the massive Haleakala Crater. I walked past giant cinder cones, lava tubes, and unique plants that can only be found here on top of the volcano. I even had a close encounter with one of Hawaii's most well known endemic birds, the NeNe. As I filled up my water jug at the wild...