Mystical Haleakala

When visiting Maui, it's always a must to make the jaunt up to Haleakala...the House of the Sun.  It's ten thousand feet above sea level, and I mean right above the sea!  Look closely at this pic about halfway up the road and you can see the ocean on both sides, with the isthmus of central Maui in between.  It's a different world up here.

Maui upcountry is cool and misty, with frequent drizzle blowing across Haleakala summit onto the lee slopes.  Sometimes you see a rainbow...below you!

And here's the crater.  It's not actually a crater...Haleakala was once a huge shield volcano, with an appearance like Mauna Loa.  Over the past million years the summit has eroded away and the current crater is what remains.  There are three large gaps in the wall, including the Koolau Gap at left, which serve as highways for clouds to roll into the crater from the lower slopes.  Rainfall sends sediment running down through the gaps to the ocean far below.  The weather is NOT quintessentially Hawaiian up here...when we reached the summit it was 49 degrees.  Meanwhile back in Lahaina it was closer to 89.   Freezing temperatures are fairly common here in winter...snow is rare but does occur.

The light constantly changes as clouds drift in and out of the scene.  Away from the tourons, it is very quiet.  Like Crater Lake and the Grand Canyon, Haleakala is a power spot.

Vivid colors grace the landscape, changing along with the light.

The cinder cones on the crater floor are much newer than the rest of the land.  They originated as recently as a few thousand years ago.  The volcano is officially dormant, not extinct.  It could erupt again, but for now the fireworks are over a hundred miles to the southeast, on the Big Island.

The large mountain in the background is Mauna Kea, on the Big Island of Hawaii.  It's even higher than Haleakala...over 13 thousand feet...and gets snow much more frequently in winter.  It's about 80 miles from where I'm standing.

Rocks, clouds, sky...surrealism is in vogue at the House of the Sun.

Except for the one plant, and the fact that the sky is blue instead of red, we could be on Mars.

Rocks and land.

The intricacies of a silversword.

A complete silversword.  These plants are found only on Haleakala.  They are related to the yucca.  Probably, birds brought some yucca seeds over to Maui loooong ago, and the silversword evolved into its present form.  They grow in cold, arid conditions.  Like the yucca, the plant lives for decades...up to 50 years...then sends forth a showy flower stalk, then dies.

Adjacent to the national park on the summit is Science City, a satellite tracking facility.  Thousands of space objects are monitored from here.

Land, clouds, and the ocean, almost two miles below.