We decided to follow the suggestions found in Maui Revealed (have I mentioned this is a must have guide book?) and started our journey after a breakfast stop in Pa'ia. I'll cover our different eateries in another post. The day started off cloudy with a few shattered showers here and there. Nothing too bad and probably kept a lot of people off the road which was a good thing because there is nothing worse than doing the road to Hana when it's terrible crowded. The drive is a very scenic winding road through very lush tropical forests with lots of bamboo trees. The road is generally a two-way road with many one lane bridges, many other spots where the two-way road is only wide enough for one car one way, many semi-blind hairpin turns, and countless switchbacks. Our trusty guidebook says that tourist info says there are 600 turns along the way....I didn't count but would not doubt that number and perhaps suggest there could be more! The drive is a tropical paradise with many breathtaking views of the coastline and the magnificent Pacific Ocean. Along the way are many beautiful waterfalls and again we only stopped at the ones that intrigued us in our guidebook, which gives a brutal but honest opinion about things on Maui and we have yet to really disagree with their take. As you reach about 2/3 the way to Hana, you come upon a little stand called Half Way to Hana and here you can buy the most delicious tasting banana bread. This is a must stop. We bought banana bread that was so fresh it was still warm as the lovely lady was placing it out on display.
Along the way we also stopped at Wai'anapanapa Park. Here you find not only incredible views but a black sand beach. I can't recall ever being on a black sand beach before so this was real neat. There is a cool cave you can access from the beach but have to beware of the tides because water will come into this cave. Several trails take you along the volcanic rock cliff side and in one area there is a blowhole, but no activity while we were there....I guess the tide wasn't high enough.
Back on the road, we drove through Hana without stopping because everything we read says there isn't much to see there. Instead we made our way to Ohe'o Hulch aka Seven Sacred Pools. The pools were off limits for swimming while we were there because the waters were high and it had been raining. Not a big deal, we could still view them and get some good pictures. From here we were pretty much done with our stops and drove the back way around which provides for some extra interesting driving. Before I explain, the road to Hana is about the journey, everyone will have different interests for stops and some will stop at every site possible. This does make for an extra long day. Our journey time start to finish was about 8 hours.
The back way around offers some more incredible breathtaking views that are not to be missed, but also provides for some more challenging areas to navigate. The vegetation here is noticeably different past Hana, less lush and more arid. This side of the island gets a lot less rain. Parts of the roadway here is merely gravel with some good bumps along the way. More often than not parts are truly one lane and caution is required when oncoming traffic approaches. Besides this, the drive is fun and exhilarating and Z had an awesome time negotiating the roads and particularly all those turns.
We decided as we finished our journey to Hana to try and make it to the summit of Haleakala in time for sunset. Sunset was at 5:49 and so we had just over 2 hours to get there and it took us pretty much all that time to get there. The summit of Haleakala is at 10,023 feet...needless to say it's COLD up there and if you haven't prepared properly you'll be freezing in a manner of seconds. The drive up
from the base to the summit is 21 miles and as you travel along the switchback road, you start below the clouds, in the clouds and then above the clouds. It's hard to describe the feeling of being above the clouds. Certainly a great view from up there and watching the sunset from above the clouds is truly an amazing experience and sight. I've been fortunate to watch some pretty beautiful sunsets but this vantage point definitely raises the bar for beautiful.
All said this incredible day of journey and breathtaking sights was worth every minute of this 12 hour day, but we probably should have heeded the advice not to do both on the same day.
Waterfall along road to Hana
Volcanic rock formations
Just after sunset Haleakala
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