My friend Shaina has tried to orchestrate an overnight backpacking trip into the Haleakala Crater since the winter. She had booked the Paliku cabin in December, but we had to scratch our trip since it coincided with our company's Christmas party (that all of the hikers that we had recruited wanted to go to). She was foiled again in February, and alas, also today.
Shaina had booked the cabin more than a month in advance and rallied together a great group of friends to hike the crater today, stay the night at the Paliku cabin and then hike out tomorrow.
But then a crazy storm front rolled in last night, and blasted all of Lahaina with ferocious winds and rain. Shaina and I huddled together at work and discussed the bleak weather. We had already had a few hikers drop out earlier in the month due to scheduling conflicts (aka "wimping out"--just kidding, guys!), and last night we lost another hiker because she has a cold, and during our shift at work, another friend didn't like the look of the weather and bowed out too (he is also recovering from a cold).
So, this morning, it was the Fearless Duo of Shaina and Paige driving up the mountain to check out the crater and see if this weather was as bad a bitch as everyone was saying she was.
And she was.
We drove through roiling fog once we passed the Visitor's Center near the base of the summit. Then rain began to mist the windshield.
Once we pulled into the parking lot of the summit of Haleakala, we already knew that we were not going to be doing our backpacking adventure this time.
We were blasted by freezing cold winds and a stinging, chilly rain the second we got out of the car. I shimmied into my rain gear as quickly as I could, so we could take a look at our hike.
{The picture of the crater at the lookout gives you an idea of what we would see if the weather wasn't so miserable}
Shaina and I got to the lookout and checked out our trail...and there was absolutely nothing to see. The mist had settled into the bowl of the crater, completely masking the sight of our trail towards the Paliku cabin.
{wet and chilly but still smiling}
{my fearless leader, Shaina}
{Shaina in the mist}
{trekking back to the summit's parking lot}
{it looks like Mars up there!}
Since the weather was so gnarly, Shaina and I abandoned our overnight backpacking adventure and did a short nature walk lower down on Haleakala at Hosmer Grove.
{Shaina snacking on the trail by some Eucalyptus}
{looking minuscule, but brightly colored! in a grove of Eucalyptus}
{edible berries found on the trail--Shaina described them as having a chalky, apple flavor, but watch out for the small pit!}
{we saw two of these during our walk!}
{dew drops}
{blossoms}
{looking back up at the summit}
{ta-dah!}
After our mini-hike, Shaina and I hopped back in the car and cruised down the mountain towards Paia for lunch at one of our favorite places...Flatbread Pizza!
On our way, we saw a lot of cows:
{note all the sunshine these cows are basking in}
After lunch in Paia, we came back into Lahaina to unpack our gear. Shaina and I have plans to reconvene later tonight and cook up our camp dinner (pasta with ground beef and vodka sauce). And we're going to jazz up our meal with some good wine to drown our sorrows over our abandoned backpacking adventure.
If life gives you lemons, right?
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