Sunrise on Haleakala was a glorious success! Not only did the alarm work right this time, (Yay!), but we had an uneventful drive across the island and up the mountain. The sunrise ticket reservation went off without a hitch*. We were there plenty early to secure a great spot, and Mother Nature put on a spectacular sunrise. So much more interesting than it was last time. These are only a few of the pictures I took, all are unedited, but are presented here for your viewing pleasure:
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I have many more, but these are some quick-picked best shots. I'm pretty pleased, and I'm not even the photographer in the family.
The drive to the top took every minute of two hours from the time we left the resort. There were conflicting time reports - Google Maps says it takes an hour and 53 minutes. The Haleakala National Park website says three and a half hours. In this case, Google Maps was much closer to being right. But there was minimal traffic in front of us. If you elect to do this at some point, plan accordingly.
* The ticket reservation was odd. When I bought my first ticket two months ago, my receipt had a bar code, and said they'd scan it. Big warnings, that if they couldn't scan it, we might be turned away. This second ticket receipt only had a Reservation Code on it - no bar code. When I got to the ticket booth, the Ranger just asked me my last name. I told him, he checked a list, and he said, "Ok, you're good." So maybe they've changed things. If you do this, take whatever receipts they send you, because I don't know what you should expect.
After the Ranger approved us for the sunrise reservation, he said, "That'll be $25 entrance fee." I held up my Access Pass and Driver's License, and he said, "That's even better." No worries, and that was that. We were at the summit a half hour later.
Weather was cooperative. It was cold, slightly windy, but nothing like the bitter cold wind the last time we were here. Slightly overcast, so minimal opportunity for stargazing (Emmy, I tried!
) Although we did see Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter, if the guy with the star map was to be believed. Temperature was 51 degrees at the summit. We'd brought heavy winter coats and gloves, and I was quite toasty.
We arrived at the parking area a few minutes before 5:00. Sunrise was at 5:39. We left the parking area about 6:30. It was a very nice experience.
Dave