We saw the sunrise at Haleakala on Jill's birthday while on our honeymoon!
The sunrise at Haleakalā National Park is something special. Not only was it a journey to see the sunrise, but it was also my wife's birthday on our honeymoon! Talk about a special day! We got up bright and early--I believe it was around 3:30 a.m.--to make sure that we would get to the park in time to get a good spot to view the sunrise from. There is so much popularity around watching the sunrise from atop the volcano within Haleakalā National Park that they now require you to register for a spot for the morning that you want to go.
The registration process is where our journey begins. Jill and I knew that you needed to register, but we weren't quite aware as to just how popular this destination was. Within moments of the registration going live for the day that we wanted to visit, all the spots had been filled! We were upset, but determined that we would be able to go the next day or later in the week. Jill had the stroke of genius to check 15 minutes later, and sure enough someone most have decided to cancel their registration. We quickly locked in our time, and we were set to drive to the top of the mountain before the sun came up on her birthday.
The drive to the top of Haleakalā takes you on a two hour journey from the base of the mountain to the overlook at Pu'u'ula'ula, aka Red Hill Summit. The summit sits at 10,023 feet. That's almost 2 miles above sea level which is where we started. We had actually spent the previous day driving the Road to Hana. During that drive, we were in another part of Haleakalā National Park at sea level! The drive isn't that many miles, but it includes more than 100 switchback turns as you ascend the volcano.
Jill and I were able to arrive while it was still pitch black. That afforded me the opportunity to take a few photos of the moon which will likely be featured in our October 2020 gallery. After I had taken the clearest photo of the moon of my life, we made our way to the observation platform. We were some of the first people there, but we were quickly surrounded by about 50 people. Everyone was huddled up for warmth and anxiously awaiting the sun to rise.
The summit of Haleakala sits at almost two miles above sea level.
I couldn't distinguish a cloud from the ocean or even from an island!
As the sun started to come up, the clouds in the sky transitioned from red to orange to pink to yellow and any color in between. It was one of the longest sunrises I have ever experienced, and my eyes were fixed on the horizon the entire time. As the sun made its first appearance into the morning sky, I slowly realized that I was struggling to distinguish the sky from the ocean from the other Hawaiian islands. The entire world was ablaze with the light from the sun, and it all blended together in a brilliant swath of yellow and white.
We spent a little more time at the top of Haleakalā trying to make out the different Hawaiian islands and trying to see where our condo was. We were both quite tired from the day before and the early morning, so we headed back down to the coast to enjoy the rest of the morning laying out in the sun. The experience was definitely worth the lack of sleep, and I'll never forget the beauty of that sunrise.
Pingback: Ocean Kayak Haleakala
[…] Haleakala Sunrise […]
Pingback: Meet The Wild Boyz: Nature Photography With A Mission – BIBLIOPHILE, DOG MOM, DESSERT PERSON
[…] “The sunrise at Haleakalā National Park is something special. Not only was it a journey to see the sunrise, but it was also my wife’s birthday on our honeymoon! Talk about a special day! We got up bright and early — I believe it was around 3:30 am — to make sure that we would get to the park in time to get a good spot to view the sunrise from.” Continue reading. […]