Much of the Island of Mauai is Haleakala, a 10 000 foot shield volcano.   We can drive to the summit, entering Haleakala National Park on the way up.   The Visitors Center is on the rim, just below the highest point and this is where the main trailhead is.   Almost all of the hikes must drop into the crater, 3000 feet below.

We hiked down the Sliding Sands Trail to the floor of the crater and along the desolate basin, dropping 2490 feet in 9 km.

This is a longer loop hike, about 21+ km, 6- 7 hours on the trail.

Many areas were barren, but we passed slopes of silversword plants, a bunchgrass meadow, and some hardy shrubs in the lava flows.

The route we chose wound through reddish and black craters, with new vistas over each shoulder.

We had good weather for the whole day.   Haleakala can be cold on the rim and the crater, but we had a warm day with little wind.     The loop wound back toward the steep rim, passing by a number of unique features.

Any hike through the middle of the crater necessitates a hike back up to the rim.   We chose the longer route that goes to the edge of a gap in the surrounding cliffs, on the far right of this photo.

Although most of the crater is a barren rocky area, the northeast corner is the Ko’olau Gap which allows prevailing wet winds to penetrate the 7000 foot crater.   This corner is greener, supporting grass, shrubs, and some stunted trees.   We hiked past the Holua  Cabin where there a few nene.

The trail wound right to the foot of the cliffs then zigzagged up with a series of switchbacks to the rim.

the trail switchbacks up the cliffs	the greener NE corner of the crater
above the switchbacks	the north side of Maui was shrouded in clouds below the rim

The Haleakala Loop Trail was our favorite hike for all of 2016.   It has long been on our list of “must-do hikes,” but now that it has been done, we now want to go back and hike a different route in the National Park.   The Island of Maui isn’t too bad either…..  🙂