Haleakalā Wilderness

The mother of the demigod Maui lodged a complaint with her son: the day was too short to dry her bark cloth. So Maui went to the great mountain and snared the sun's rays and held them fast with ropes. "Give me my life," pleaded the sun. "If you promise to crawl more slowly across the sky," said Maui. And the sun still hangs long in the sky over the island of Maui, whose great mountain is called Haleakalā, "the House of the Sun." Two centuries have passed since the last lava ran from Haleakalā Crater. Though dormant, the volcano is not considered extinct, and while no volcanic activity is evident on Maui today, Haleakalā may erupt again. The national park that shares its name stretches from 10,023-foot Mount Haleakalā north and far eastward to the cascading streams and quiet pools in Kīpahulu Valley, which opens onto the sea. Within its borders you'll discover cool lava rocks, cinder cones as high as 600 feet, striking silver plants that bloom only once in their lifetime, and other rare species that grow only in this fragile ecosystem. No roads or trails connect the Haleakalā Crater area to Kīpahulu Valley, but both are accessible by paved roads from Kahului. Across the Wilderness of Haleakalā Crater, 36 miles of trails access a land of stark contrasts and sudden weather changes: fog, rain and chilly breezes are common hiking companions. Weather at high elevations is highly unpredictable and changes often, with cool temperatures, intense solar radiation and rapidly moving clouds. On average the temperature drops about three degrees for every 1,000-foot rise in elevation and often ranges from 50 to 65 degrees at higher elevations, which can feel much colder with wind chill and damp, overcast conditions. Lower elevations closer to the coast see daytime temperatures of 70-80 degrees and nighttime temperatures of 65-75, and average about 187 inches of rainfall per year.