Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [340]
Waikamoi Preserve
This windswept native cloud forest supports one of the rarest ecosystems on earth. Managed by the Nature Conservancy, the 5230-acre Waikamoi Preserve provides the last stronghold for 76 species of native plants and forest birds. You’re apt to spot the ′i′iwi (scarlet Hawaiian honeycreeper), the ′apapane (bright red Hawaiian honeycreeper) and the yellow-green ′amakihi flying among the preserve’s koa and ohia trees. You might also catch a glimpse of the yellow-green ′alauahio (Maui creeper) or the ′akohekohe (Maui parrotbill), both endangered species found nowhere else on earth.
The only way to see the preserve is to join a guided hike. The National Park Service offers free three-hour, 3-mile guided hikes that enter the preserve from Hosmer Grove campground at 9am on Monday and Thursday. It’s best to make reservations, which you can do up to one week in advance by calling 572-4459. Expect wet conditions; bring rain gear.
Leleiwi Overlook
A stop at Leleiwi Overlook (8840ft), midway between the Park Headquarters Visitor Center and the summit, offers your first look into the crater, and gives you a unique angle on the ever-changing clouds climbing up the mountain. You can literally watch the weather form at your feet. From the parking lot, it’s a five-minute walk across a gravel trail to the overlook. En route you’ll get a fine view of the West Maui Mountains and the isthmus connecting the two sides of Maui.
In the afternoon, if weather conditions are right, you might see the Brocken specter, an optical phenomenon that occurs at high elevations. Essentially, by standing between the sun and the clouds, your image is magnified and projected onto the clouds. The light reflects off tiny droplets of water in the clouds, creating a circular rainbow around your shadow.
Kalahaku Overlook
Whatever you do, do not miss this one. Kalahaku Overlook (9324ft), 0.8 miles above Leleiwi Overlook, offers a bird’s-eye view of the crater floor and the ant-sized hikers on the trails snaking around the cinder cones below. At the observation deck, information plaques provide the skinny on each of the volcanic formations that punctuate the crater floor.
The ′ua′u (Hawaiian dark-rumped petrel) nests in burrows in the cliff face at the left side of the observation deck between May and October. Even if you don’t spot the birds, you can often hear the parents and chicks making their unique clucking sounds. Of the fewer than 2000 ′ua′u remaining today, most nest right here at Haleakalā, where they lay just one egg a year. These seabirds were thought to be extinct until sighted again in the crater during the 1970s.
A short trail below the parking lot leads to a field of rare native silversword (′ahinahina), ranging from seedlings to mature plants.
Haleakalā Visitor Center
Perched on the rim of the crater, the visitor center ( 6:30am-3:30pm) at a 9745ft elevation is the park’s main viewing spot. And what a magical sight is awaiting you. The everchanging interplay of sun, shadow and clouds reflecting on the crater floor creates a mesmerizing dance of light and color.
The center has displays on Haleakalā’s volcanic origins that explain what you’re seeing on the crater floor 3000ft below. There are nature talks, books on Hawaiian culture and the environment, as well as drinking fountains and rest rooms here.
By dawn the parking lot fills up with people coming to see the sunrise show, and it pretty much stays packed all day. Leave the crowds behind by taking the 10-minute hike up Pa Ka′oao (White Hill), which begins at the east side of the visitor center and provides stunning views of the crater.
Haleakalā Summit
PU′U′ULA′ULA (RED HILL) OVERLOOK
Congratulations! The 37-mile drive from sea level to the 10,023ft summit of Haleakalā you’ve just completed is the highest elevation gain in the shortest distance anywhere in the world. You’ve passed through