Sea level. 2:30PM. Kahului, Maui. “So much cloud!”, I thought as we get in the car to visit Haleakalā National Park. The Haleakalā peak is shrouded behind a thick cloud bank. I fear, our trip will be in vain to a gloomy peak.
3000 feet. 3:00PM. We travel through a rich canopy of vegetation where Hawaiʻian spring is in full tropical bloom. Flowers of all colors are on display. The peak is still shrouded in clouds.
7000 feet. 4:00PM. Park Headquarters Visitor Center. The switchbacks are dizzying. So, we get out of the car to acclimatize with the rapid gain in elevation. As is my custom, I chat up the ranger at the visitor center front desk. The ranger tells me to expect clear conditions at the peak because the cloud bank remains suspended around 8000 feet. She says, “Stay for the sunset. It will be good.”
8500 feet. 4:30PM. Roadside brief stop. The vista here gets very moody as clouds swirl past us. It feels much colder as well (usually, 3ºF drop for every 1000 feet of elevation gain). Rishabh rolls down the window to catch some cloud. As he tries, our car fills up with wet fog. Wish, I could get out of the car to shoot the Hitchcock-ian atmosphere, but the narrow road forbids.
10,023 feet. 5:30PM. Puʻuʻulaʻula summit. Brilliant sunshine all around! I see tens of people in shorts and flipflops cringing in the cold. Rishabh and I pull our jackets on. The view of the famed massive shield volcano with unreal Mars like surface is impressive. At $5 per shot, I make some cryptic dollars shooting photos for families on their phones and tablets. Park advisories remind us that the air is very thin at this elevation and we should avoid exertion. I am breathing deeper and faster. Thin air or adrenaline from the grand view? Don’t know.
9324 feet. 6:45PM. Kalahaku overlook. The sunrise at Haleakalā is one of the top draws for Maui visitors. Because of the high demand, NPS offers limited tickets for vehicles to enter the park between 3-7 AM. I tried obtaining one online on three consecutive days, but those 80 odd tickets per day disappear in about 20 seconds of the sales opening at the .gov site. No sunrise for us! But, the ranger's assurance rings in my ears: “Stay for the sunset. It will be good.” So we stay back with about a dozen more people scattered thinly over the parking lot. Slowly, the tired sun-god – La – dips into the same bank of wet fog at 8500 feet, which Rishabh had caught a bit earlier. May be it’s just the elevation or it is lack of oxygen in my brain… everything around us feels insanely peaceful! Right in front of us, as legends promise, Maui – the mischievous demigod of Polynesian folklore – lassoes La for the day and takes him behind curtains.
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