To add a tiny bit of insult to a little bit of injury, we decided that the first night of our mini vacation would be the best one to shorten for our adventure. That's right: start vacation on a tropical island at 1:25 am after a whopping 3 hours of sleep. Aloha!
I jumped out of bed when the alarm went off at 1:25 to start the process of packing up our things and waking Jeff up, which always takes 7 or 8 tries. With both of us finally up, we'd packed several bags that included hats, scarves, a down vest, sweaters, and jackets. At more than 10,000 ft, the temperatures are usually in the low 30s with a strong wind around 15-20 mph. Anyone who knows me, understands why I had packed my Under Armour long-sleeved shirt and a puffy vest.
After a two hour drive with few other cars on the road, we'd made it near the entrance of Haleakala National Park and noticed a coffee truck in the parking lot of the Kula Lodge. Jeff was shouting praises and pulled off. The coffee truck guy exclaimed that we were early and the first ones up the mountain by 30 minutes or so! I was thrilled!! Jeff was not, since it was only 3:00 am and sunrise wasn't until 5:45 am or so. We still had another 40 minutes to the top, and I was desperate to see hoards of stars. The "early" start allowed us time to chat with the ctg, Mike, getting tips of where to go on the island, plus he was funny. We grabbed two hot, tasty cups of Kona and a toasted everything bagel while 4 or 5 cars passed by. I was getting a little nervous that we were missing out (on what?) and hurried us along. Both Jeff and I took a few minutes to start layering up, since the temperature had dropped to 51 degrees.
Around 4 am, we pulled into the park. The wind was howling and chilly. Thankfully, there were still parking spots in the highest lot (it may have been a quarter of the way filled...maybe). Layering as much as we possibly could, we made our way to the top where a lookout enclosure stood. Wow, was the wind whipping and super cold! I had on 4 or 5 layers on my top half, hat, scarf, socks, shoes, but I was still very cold. Other people stepped out of their vehicles in shorts, slippers (flip flops), and maybe a towel or extra t-shirt. I cringed over and over for these poor souls who, apparently, don't research like I do.
The stars were absolutely incredible!! I saw several regular shooting stars and one humongous one that had a long tail. Jeff was so sweet and tagged along every I wanted to go outside and just look up. We couldn't stay out as long as I would have wanted because it was ridiculously cold and too many people had flashlights, ruining the blackness of the night. If we'd gotten there first, we wouldn't have had that issue. Within the next 30 minutes, the place really filled up. We brought our "good camera" along, our DSLR and played with settings, busying ourselves as first light began to break over the sea of clouds.
Slowly, slowly, the earth turned to greet the sun. Simply breathtaking! The colors were rich and constantly changing. I stood outside until my hands were absolutely screaming then took solace in the glass enclosure. By 6:15, most spectators had begun the decent down from the summit, and we weren't far behind.
Jeff nodded off, almost magically, as I carefully dodged bikers down the mountain. I was so glad to miss most of the traffic since we took our time leaving the summit area.
Close to an hour later, we made it to a small, local place called Grandma's Coffee for breakfast. What a treat! Jeff was feeling much more chipper than I was, since his nap, so he calmed me down when I found out there were no crepes to be had. We came for the crepes! After a review of the menu we ended up with a feast, the best mocha I've ever had, and very full bellies before we made our return trip to our hotel for some more zzzz's.
