Before yesterday morning, I could not have predicted that there could exist a sunrise so extraordinary that it would make my 15-year-old spontaneously hug me. But friends, that's exactly what happened. And honestly, even if nothing else on this trip goes our way, that one perfect moment will have been enough for me.
We took advantage of our jet lag and left the condo at about 3:00 yesterday morning for the long and winding drive up the switchbacks of the volcano in the dark. We went from just above sea level to over 10,000 feet in elevation. We also went from 80 degrees to around 55 degrees with a cutting wind. And we got to the summit with a couple hundred of our newest friends, and we thought, oh crap, there are a lot of clouds up here, it might be a bust. (Not to worry, in a move that is 100% on brand for me, I made reservations for two days in a row so we would have a backup day in case it sucked the first day.)
But once first light came through, all those clouds turned ethereal. We were surrounded by pinks and reds and oranges. Sunrises are maybe the closest thing I've ever had to a religious experience, and this one was exquisite. Pictures definitely don't do it justice.
Pretty soon, though, even though we were wearing our Indiana fall clothes, it got to be too cold for Henry and especially for Max (who even allowed me to hug him to help him warm up), so they went back to the car. Mike lasted a little bit longer, but eventually he said he couldn't feel his fingertips anymore, so he joined them. Liam seemed unaffected by the cold, though, and did a FaceTime with his friends back at school (they were on lunch break) to show the sunrise to them. I did the same, FaceTiming my parents and Jack so they could share the moment with us. What an age we live in!
It seemed like after the sunrise, everyone headed back down and left the park right away, so it kind of felt like we had the place to ourselves, which is just the way we like it. We explored a scenic area with incredible views of cinder cones, and Henry and Liam had fun climbing the rocks. Max was still too cold, so he only came out for a little bit before he headed back to the car.
We also tried to do that thing where it looks like you're jumping up in the clouds, but it didn't quite work out as planned.
Our last stop was the Hosmer Grove Trail, which the park service said was half a mile but definitely was longer than that. (Damn you, park service, you tricked us AGAIN!) By this time, Max really wasn't feeling well (a combination of a cold and I think maybe altitude sickness) and he opted to stay in the car, so Mike and I headed off with Liam and Henry. We walked through groves of eucalyptus trees (which are not native) and some pines and other trees that Mike can tell you more about because that's more his arena than mine. BUT eventually we got to an overlook, and we found the birds. Hawaiian birds! We saw three different species of honeycreepers, and there were a bunch of each, and they were happy and jumping around but we managed to get a few good pictures. We were pretty worried about Max, though, so we didn't stay too long before we made our way back to the car. He's okay, but they all three slept the whole way back to Kihei, and then took a siesta on top of that once we got back to the condo.
iiwi (scarlet honeycreeper)
apapane
Hawaii amakihi
Liam's review of the morning: "10 out of 10, would definitely Haleakala again!"
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