Haleakala Sunrise

One of the top bucket list items in Maui is watching the sunrise at Haleakala National Park which is home to Maui's highest peak. Rising 10,023 (3,005 m) feet above sea level, Haleakala means "house of the sun". It’s a dormant volcano and watching the sunrise is super popular. As such, we made car park reservations 60 days ago when they open up as parking is very limited. The reservation only costs $1 (and is in addition to the vehicle entrance fee). We actually booked two different days in order to hedge any undesirable weather like rain or cloudiness.

As we were on the most western part of the island in Lahaina, we woke up early to leave at 2 am to drive to a more central part of the island and were prepared for the cold weather at the mountain top. Early in the morning though, we again saw the amazing starry night sky:



A Team of Musubi Five headed eastward with multiple GPS guides to make sure we didn’t lose our way and as cell service has been inconsistent on the remote roads:



We weaved our way up switchback or hairpin turns and slowly made our way up the mountain. There were two parking areas and the upper area had less parking, but because we arrived so early, we scored a spot right by the pathway to the summit viewing. Here you can see the other cars making their way up or back down because the top lot pictured below was full:





We then checked out the summit area in pitch black darkness, using our cellphone flashlights. I was surprised by the level of enthusiasm and energy of the group which was wonderful and shined through our masks that were helping to keep us warm:





I anchored us a spot on the ledge as some napped in the warmth of the car. I was really amped and feeding off the energy of the sunrise team. I enjoyed just watching the horizon as the sun started peaking through - a series below:













And a few fun photos of the team either through selfies, candids, or posing:









Sunrise was 6:02 am, but Ranger Dave described the national park a few minutes before and pointed out we could see the volcanoes on Big Island just east of us:





He also explained that he would sing a Hawaiian Sunrise chant called E Ala Ē. He actually had a lovely voice and translated it for us:

E Ala E (Awaken/Arise)
E ala e (Awaken/Arise)
Ka lā i ka hikina (The sun in the east)
I ka moana, ka moana hohonu (The ocean deep)
Piʻi ka lewa, ka lewa nuʻu (Climbing to the heaven)
I ka hikina (In the east)
Aia ka lā (There is the sun)
E ala e (Awaken/Arise)

The enthusiasm of the team was amazing as we learned about Haleakala and the fact the roads were repaired during the pandemic. We decided the road should receive 5-stars. Here’s a sign of the elevation as we were above the clouds:

After the sun had risen, we headed to the visitor center to go to the bathroom and we were lucky to see several Nenes! Also known as the Hawaiian goose, it is an endangered bird that is hopefully making a comeback and is the official state bird. They were very cute as they waddled around:



We made our way down the mountain, dropping below the clouds and returning to Lahaina. We ate breakfast at Kihei Caffe’s new Lahaina location. Here we opened a “breakfast tab” and chowed down on eggs benedict, Hawaiian pancakes, loco moco, fried rice, waffles, papaya fruit, and POG (passion fruit, orange, guava) juice. I’m not smiling because I was in mid-chew…



We returned happily with leftovers and the blankets and towels we borrowed to provide extra warmth and we celebrated our return with a group selfie or wefie in front of the hotel sign:



After much needed naps, we went to the pool and relaxed. We struggled to get restaurant reservations at popular places, because according to the concierge, Maui hotels are at 98% occupancy due to the surge of travel from the pandemic recovery and struggle to accommodate large groups last minute. We ended up at Waicoco at the Westin Resort down the street where we shared many dishes and tried to make sure the food didn’t blow away as it was super breezy. The last day and night with Team Musubi was memorable with a phenomenal sunrise at Haleakala and sunset beach dinner followed by shopping in the Whaler’s Village shopping center:



A photo of the Mercedes half of Team Musubi while waiting for the Westin valet:

Indeed I was soaking in the last day with everyone as we were up from 2 am to 11 pm! 

Road to Hana 🌺

Today we had planned the long awaited Road to Hana tour which was a bucket list item for Maui and our namesake for our group chat. I had named it that because I wanted to encourage many to come to Hawaii for this experience. Even when the CarPlay in our rental car announces the text messages, it would say “Road to Hana Hibiscus”.

We had booked a tour with Dynamic which had the highest rating on TripAdvisor and allowed us to bring Baro. We had weighed driving the route ourselves, but thought it would be better to relax and have a professional driver. Our driver and tour guide was Kaili, a former wrestler who went to college in both Nebraska and California and who’s uncle is Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, the famous Hawaiian singer.

He navigated the 658 curves and 59 one lane bridges pretty well, but it is also known as “divorce highway” as many couples bicker about driving this serpentine route which started around the 1100s. Apparently, Hana had access to fresh water and the chief of the area was giving the water away. Other chiefs were surprised the Hana chief would just do that and felt threatened. So the Hana chief wanted to continue building alliances by giving away the water, but the warriors would get lost in the thick forest trying to get to Hana.

So the Hana chief started laying down a simple path and his son continued it, but it was by the ocean and swept away. So as they rebuilt the road, they elevated it along the mountain side. It was also referred to as the Long Road and King’s Trail according to Kaili.

Here’s a pic of the full loop (plus our drive from our hotel on the western shore). The loop itself is considered the longest scenic route in the world. Also Kaili pointed out that the island of Maui looks like a head and body when turned sideways…



The tour included breakfast which was picked up at a Safeway near the start of the route. The team also enjoyed some Starbucks as we always do:



The tour was technically not private and therefore another family from California joined us who were celebrating a babymoon and had one day in Maui. The route is actually not recommended for pregnant women due to the bumpiness and scary turns, but this family seemed all in as they asked many questions of Kaili. Here’s a view of the front and the road:



We drove by the largest bamboo forest in Maui…



And saw some Rainbow Eucalyptus trees…



Also movies have been inspired by the natural beauty of the route, as they nicknamed here the Avatar forest after the science fiction film:



Movies were also filmed here like in one of the many Jurassic Parks:



We also learned about Ke’anae Peninsula, a historic Hawaiian Village where the brother of the chief of Hana moved here and built up the area with dirt over lava rocks. Apparently this area is also know for taro farming.

We stopped at Aunt Sandy’s banana bread stand where we had the freshest and most delicious banana bread and blended fruit smoothies:



We then headed to Pua Ka’a State Park, which means pigs rolling around in waterfalls and folks would hunt for them in the area. Although we saw many waterfalls - big and small ones, this was the only one where we stopped. So a couple of us treaded in waist high and the water was super refreshing:



Afterwards, we visited our second black sand beach of the trip at Wainapanapa State Park. The sand was super smooth and the water was warm and clean unlike the black sand beach on Big Island where there was a lot of algae feeding the turtles…





Even Baro got to enjoy the black sand as he barked at the waves:





As Kaili yelled out ”cameras to the left”, “cameras to the right”, our team was great in taking pictures on each side. We also would lean left or right to help with turns. I also did it more because for some reason I thought I needed to lean every time he honked, but he was just warning any oncoming traffic. Here are some “cameras to the left” and “cameras to the right” photos showing the hairpin turns and the beautiful nature of Maui’s coastline:













Although sub sandwiches were included as part of the package, Kaili suggested stopping at a Hawaiian BBQ food truck, which similar to the dinner we had last night to supplement our lunch. We picked up ribs, pork, and salmon and headed to some picnic tables at the botanical gardens in Hana. Hana is a very quiet town and considered the most secluded town in Maui. Here’s a photo from the botanical gardens:



So most folks have to return back from Hana on the same road, but we had booked a full loop tour. The back road can be closed due to inclement weather and conditions. Furthermore, rental car companies do not permit drivers to go beyond Hana. But we continued on and passed by the 7 Sacred Pools, also known as the ʻOheʻo Gulch:



But then we started to see why folks don’t usually or cannot venture on to the back road. As Kaili said, this is where his driving skills shine. There were many turns, but also the bumpiness, it feels like a “massage” and Kaili treated it like a “roller coaster”. We also saw remnants of various wrecks as apparently folks not only struggle with the curves, but the glare of the sun. Furthermore, it is too difficult to get a tow truck to this remote area and the cost to tow a car is $2,000 - $3,000! Thus folks abandon cars and to get rid of them, people will light them on fire to force the government to haul them away. I declared this was pretty passive aggressive, but apparently it’s effective. 

Also, this area was not lush and green, but very dry. Apparently folks had diverted water from this area for agricultural needs and as Kaili said, this area looked like Arizona:

We made good time and although the tour was supposed to be 12 hours, we were dropped off after 9 hours due to missing traffic and being expeditious at the stops. So once we returned, we headed to the beach where we watched the sunset:



Unfortunately, by late night it was difficult to find a restaurant that could accommodate us or deliver, so we actually had a comforting ramen dinner and then walked outside to see the night sky where the stars shone brightly:

We turned in for an early night, because we were waking up early for sunrise!