Sunset....Sunrise

Sunset at the beach.

Sunset behind a Traveller Palm.

After spending some time in the Iao Valley, we went back to the condo and had more beach time (see a theme here?). We stayed at the beach till sunset, then went to bed because the next day was going to begin quite early.

Alarms on Christmas Day awoke us at 3:30 am local time. Unfortunately, we were planning to get up this early to make sure we could leave at 4 am to begin the trek up to the summit of Haleakala to see the sunrise. The sunrises/sunsets in Hawaii are legendary, and having the opportunity to view one at 10,000+ feet above the clouds is just incredible. At that altitude, the temperature was around 40 degrees with a stiff 15 knot wind. Did I mention the periods of mist too!? My pictures don't do this experience justice, but this was one of the most memorable experiences of the trip.







We watched the sunrise above the crater, which is where the astronauts trained prior to the first mission to the moon.



After watching the full sunrise, we headed back down the side of the mountain (with the heater on at full blast). Though it may sound crazy (though not as crazy as getting up at 330 AM and watching a sunrise at 40 degrees F in Hawaii) we drove down the side of the mountain with the windows open taking in all the sounds and smells. At one point, we drove through a forest of pines that just smelled incredible (Glade tries to reproduce this smell, but it is just not quite the same).

We ended up following rainbows all the way down the mountainside to the beach traveling through Makawao (say that five times fast) and Paia. Paia is known for being a hippie town, but since it was Christmas (and early too), the town was quite empty. We ended up at a beach on the north side of the island in Kahului Bay and the surf was incredible.

See the double rainbow?

My brother trying to outrun the surf.