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Driving through the clouds on Maui | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper
Posted on: Sunday, October 21, 2007

Driving through the clouds on Maui

Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

When the conditions are right, visitors at the summit of Maui's grand crater Haleakala can see the peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island. The twisting, panoramic drive to the Pu'u Ulaula Overlook takes you from sea level to above 10,000 feet in 38 miles.
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WHERE: Nowhere are Hawai'i's volcanoes more compelling than at the summit of Maui's Haleakala. From the rim of the great crater — a deep-sided pit that disappears from view — you can gaze across the Pacific, above the clouds, to the peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island.

Below are the rusty reds, ochres and blacks of lava and ash flows. It's silent, despite the 1.5 million visitors year-round to the summit. Weather appears and just as quickly disappears; a cool mantle settles immediately after you stop moving.

The view, which in clear weather extends 100 miles, rewards drivers for an intense switchback journey through several micro-climates. What you think may be fog turns out to be drive-through cumulus clouds resting gently on the back of the world's largest dormant volcano. Highway 378 is reputedly the only place in the world where you can drive from sea level to above 10,000 feet in 38 miles. Acclimate to the increasingly thin air at rest stops.

WHAT TO SEE:

  • Leleiwi Overlook; halfway up provides the first panoramic glimpse of Haleakala's crater to be seen in full from the summit. If cloud cover is low, and the sun is in the right place look for your shadow on the clouds.

  • Haleakala Visitor Center, just below the summit, looks out over the moonlike volcanic landscape with plenty of info on Haleakala's geological wonders, but it's still a few miles to go to the Pu'u Ulaula Overlook at 10,023 feet.

  • Kalahaku Overlook, for up-close views of the rare silversword that grows only on Haleakala and the Big Island. The fragile silversword, from a distance resembling a silver rocket, flowers once every five to 20 years, sending up tall slender stalks with hundreds of maroon flower heads, sets seed and then dies.

  • At the summit is a 24-hour glass-enclosed lookout (in case of severe weather) with a 360-degree view but also a walkway; there are no tours of the Haleakala observatories but you can admire their domes. Or take an excursion to the fiery-colored but peaceful Ka Lu'u o Ka O'o cinder cone, a popular half-day hike from the summit area.

    On the way down look for the black-nosed nene, the Hawaiian goose, endangered as much for skittering across the road as for any ecological reason; Haleakala is one of the few places to spot them easily.

    LEARN MORE

    Read more about Haleakala summit, ranger-guided hikes and programs at www.nps.gov/hale/planyourvisit/guided-activities.htm
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