Tuesday April 8 - HALEAKALA!!!

If you want to see the best website devoted to this climb check here. ...and I thought I was a geek. Seriously, he did a great job. There's also the annual Race to the Sun. The weather changed today. According to the weatherman, the winds have shifted more SE, bringing additional moisture to the islands. We were a bit concerned about the rain in the forecast but as we head out it seems to be just hazy and humid. I've heard that this ride has the most vertical rise of any paved road and I've also heard that it has the second most rise. I don't know which is true. I don't know if either is true but I do know that that the total elevation gain is 10,023 feet (I have pictures to prove it). To get some perspective Laura and I thought in terms of canyons. "This ride is like Little Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood and Emigration all in one climb", we said. So as the day rolled on we would calculate how much of each canyon, in terms of elevation and distance, was consumed. When things would get tough, Laura would ask, "OK, where are we?" And I would say, "We just passed Storm Mountain." To which she would say, "That's it?" We got a bit of a late start. We were told that we should not be on the road between 7AM and 8AM because all the buses and parents taking their kids to school make the roads treacherous. Maui has undergone a bit of a baby boom apparently as all the GenX fun hogs have decided it's now or never. Anyway, I also left a washer out of the mix when I swapped my 11-23 for a 12-27. So after some rattling and a quick trip back to the house we got a 9AM start.

Here's a shot looking back (North) toward Paia and the ocean. Looking South up the road is a church just outside of Paia.

The climb up to Makawao is steady, winding and narrow.

We got some nice views of the cane and pineapple fields.

We went straight at the light in Makawao towards Olinda and cut over to HW 377. In this section we ran into Mike and Paul from.... wait for it..... Salt Lake City Utah. Here Laura is pulling away but these guys later dropped us (only to be caught again as Paul had some refueling issues). Actually it was great running into someone who had done this ride before. Plus it made us feel a bit more comfortable with our decision to ride in questionable weather. Paul's comment was especially comforting, "It always rains on this ride."

We stopped at Sunrise Market for a snack and some water. It started to rain as we got back on the bikes. Laura put on her jacket but soon took it off. We paused on a hairpin turn where a man was selling fruit from a stand. This fruit peddler and submarine driver (for a Lahina tour company) stuffed a guava in my pocket and gave us a couple loquats to try. His generosity and good humor powered us for the next few miles. Shortly after that, we entered the clouds.

Note the horses in the distance.

As the road snaked its way up the volcano we drifted in and out of the clouds. Note the road at the bottom of this shot.

We saw wave after wave of "bikers" riding down with guided tours. These outfits provide BMX style bikes with drum brakes, raincoats, a ride up and a guide. Most people pay for a ride up but I would have paid for a ride down...

5K = Half Way!

Finally, the park entrance - and a $10 fee. A pheasant jumped off the road right here but I just barely missed the shot. Laura almost hit two of them on the descent.

Bad sign...

Once we're in the park the views become more desert alpine.

Sun!

9K!

Up here the landscape seems lunar.

Just to make sure you can still feel your legs, the road kicks up to 14% for the final half mile. In addition, as we rounded the last switchback, we got the full effect of trade winds at 10,000 feet.

Nice view but it's getting a bit chilly.

It isn't the Hidden Peak but it is over 10,000 feet (just barely).

Very nice view. Note the blurred car and that Paul is in the photo twice. I love stitched photos.

Behind the observatory is the lunar rover.

After stretching and hanging with Mike, Paul and their wives for a bit it's time to head back down. The top third was teeth-chattering cold but as we dropped to around 5,000 feet life entered our hands and the descent became quite enjoyable. The grade isn't all that steep and the road is relatively wide so the descent was fine. Something about the moss and mud all over the roads here had us a bit freaked out about descending 10K feet. Luckily the road to Haleakala is not at all like the road to Hana.

So when everyone was at 11,000 feet last Friday getting their picture taken and performing snowy feats on TT bikes, Laura and I were sitting on a plane at 32,000 feet. Feeling just a bit left out I went ahead and added ourselves to the Hidden Peak photo. Can I get a T-shirt now?