We spent a late afternoon at the Haleakala National Park ("House of the Sun") hoping to catch the sunset and see the glow of the sun over the craters. Haleakala Volcano is a dormant volcano at the East side of Maui. Legend says the Maui demigod lassoed the sun from the volcano's summit to slow it down from its descent so that the day will last longer. We didn't really know what to expect except for a warm sunset over highest peak in Maui. But we were baffled by the tip to bring warm clothing as we were advised that it gets really cold up there. And as any human nature would dictate, there will always be someone in the group ignoring those tips, thinking "Hey, this is Hawaii, how cold can cold get?"
It was a lovely 1-1/2 hour drive from Kahului and beautiful views meet us along the way especially along Haleakala Crater Road or Highway 378. This is the fastest ascending road up to the peak, just 38 miles ascending to 10,000 feet. Wally, our driver, was an excellent narrator. He kept us all awake with his interesting stories and with his hoarse throaty voice, he keeps building excitement as we go. As we near the park, the roads turn left and right through a series of switchbacks, and we are finding ourselves on top of the clouds. Yes, clouds! Then sun seems to be shining and we still feel the warmth from it through the windows, until we got off the bus somewhere in the middle of the ascent to take a good look at these great views. And boy, was it getting chilly!
