We ended up taking an unexpected trip to Maui in the summer of 2021.
The beach near our condo had an incredible view of the night sky.
A common road trip visitors to Maui make is the Highway to Hana. A beautiful scenic road that runs along the top of the north eastern part of Maui, winding its way along the coast to Hana. Full of blind hairpin turns, wonderful views, and local sights, its definitely worth spending a day traveling along the road.
This man was taking bamboo up to a BBQ place up the road. It had fallen off his truck while making a tight turn and this was taken just after he finished collecting it off the road.
After passing through Hana we made it to Haleakala National Park and stopped at the Pools of O’heo. They usually allow swimming, but the pools were closed when we were there. The black sand beaches were still worth the trip, however.
Most visitors who take the road the Hana turn around and head back along the same road. We decided to take the lesser traveled road along the southern part of the island. On our map it was partially marked with a dotted line, so I assumed it might be a dirt road. That assumption was correct, and we soon learned the harsh road conditions here was the reason most people turn around at Hana.
Much of the road was unpaved, and sections made hairpin turns right along the edge of sheer cliff faces.
This part of the island was free of the lush vegetation we saw earlier near Hana. I assume this area must be drier than the north.
Every sign along this section of road was with peppered with bullet holes.
The tree-less landscape made for some pretty stunning coastal views.
One of the first things I noticed about Maui is that there are abandoned cars everywhere.
(I eventually learned that this was partly due to the high registration cost that sometimes made abandoning old cars on the side of the road cheaper than trying to sell them.)
This section of road was completely different to anything else we saw on Maui, and it turned out to be a highlight of the trip for me.
This was the site of the last volcanic eruption on Maui.
We headed 10,000’ up along the long and twisty road to the summit of Haleakala to watch the sunset.
It started to get pretty cold.
“Everybody clears out of here pretty quick after sunset” - Park Ranger, while directing parking.
Right after the sun finished dipping below the horizon, most people rushed back to their cars to get down the mountain road while there was still some light in the sky. To my, however, the best part was yet to come.
Soon after sunset a cloud moved over the summit.
The clouds made for some dramatic views atop Haleakala.
The bright star, center frame, is actually the planet Venus.
There is a shooting star near the upper-middle of this shot.
The wisps of clouds soon cleared from the summit, and the stars blinked into view.
I’ve been to many dark sky sights in my life, but nothing compares to the top of Haleakala. It was obvious why astronomers want to build their research telescopes near the summit.
Someday I hope to return here.
Once the sunset watchers were on their way down the mountain, the stargazers started setting up their telescopes.
We got a tip from our kayaking guide to visit Lorraine’s Shave Ice in Wailuku. It was the “best shave ice on Maui”, he told us. He was right, of course. The drive to Lorraine’s was incredible, and getting to talk with Lorraine and receive more tips on places to check out made it well worth the long drive from Wailea.
One of the tips we got from Lorraine was to visit the Nakalele Blow Hole, only a few miles down the road.
Spent the last day exploring a reef.
