Thursday, May 8, 2008

Journey to the House of the Sun


This is view from the summit of Haleakala on the Island of Maui looking down on the cloud cover below. It's a two hour drive from the coast to get to the summit. For an admitted acrophobic - its the longest two hour driver ever taken. And upon my arrival to the top -- I felt an immediate evolutionary connection to my quadruped ancestors and emulated their carriage perfectly. I even used my toes to hold on. A 50 mph wind is always a nice mountain-top touch for an closed-eyed, white-knuckled acrophobic.

Haleakala means "House of the Sun" - looking toward the east its possible to watch the sun rise from below (if you start your journey from coastal Maui at 3:30 am). Haleakala is a dormant volcano and at 10,023 feet above sea level - the tallest peak on the island of Maui. This crater is large enough to contain the entire island of Manhattan. It is 7.5 miles long, 2.5 miles wide and 3000 feet deep. Within the crater are nine cinder cones -- the largest more than a 1000 feet high.

Lush Hawaiian rain forests flank the summit midway through the drive and the birding is superb. I didn't see the infamous nene goose this day - but I did sight the beautifully plumed and rare 'apapane in the Hosmer Grove Forest.

37 comments:

Petunia said...

Amazing shot!
Well done!

Petunia

Michele said...

Wow... this is amazing!! I would have loved to make the climb to this.... beautiful photo!
Rocky Mountain Retreat

Tom said...

Excellent sky watch post.. both picture and words..

Thank you for taking part this week
Tom

Anonymous said...

And what an amazing journey to the house of the sun this must have been.
I don´t know why but when I saw you're title I remembered of that great music called "House of the rising sun" by The Animals!

Daniel J Santos said...

Amazing and interesting, excellent.

Voz do meu Coração said...

Excellent photo with a magnificent sky, I wish I could be in place to observe this beautiful landscape and can enjoy this calm and tranquility. seems that paradise is even there, when everything we can see that on top of clouds

Ví Leardi said...

This is really breath taking...Congratulatios fabulous shot.
Thanks for your visit and generous comment.

Pernille said...

OMG! Just an amazing shot!

Livio Bonino said...

Excellent shot

imac said...

Great photo = love it.

My Sky watch from Belvoir Castle Grounds are now up.

Anonymous said...

Whoa! Very cool.

SandyCarlson said...

How about that! That's is just gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

House of the Sun. Great taken.
Congratulations for shot and trekking.

FO - 2 said...

A great view! Beautiful.
Your blog is beautiful as well.
All of your photographs actually. :)

Ida

Pretty Life Online said...

Fantastic entry for SWF! mine's up too hope you can visit... Happy weekend!

Anonymous said...

How inspiring! Your photograph and description make me want to be there!

Anne-Berit said...

This is a fabulous picture,love it!

Dave Coulter said...

Awesome mountain there. A loooong way from Chicago, lol!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

TR: truly love this view from above the clouds. Really nice story to go with the view for SWF.

Anonymous said...

Talk about being on top of the world. You could see forever from there!

Jane Hards Photography said...

That is the most amazing shot. Great info too.

Lilli & Nevada said...

Wow that was fantastic

Anonymous said...

An amazing picture of an amazing place !

Unknown said...

Excellent SWF post! Amazing shot.

Anonymous said...

I'm also a bit acrophobic so I understand very well how you felt at the summit of Haleakala! :-) But you made a great shot!

Glad to hear that you come to Istanbul next week. How many days will you stay? I have a business travel to Adana but I'll be glad to meet you if we can arrange our programs.

Friendly greetings,

Craver Vii said...

That's unfortunate about your fear, but you described it in a very funny way! Outstanding photograph!

Stacey Olson said...

T.R. great photograph. I love the composition here. thanks for sharing.

Indrani said...

Amazing shot! Thanks for the notes on it and for sharing this. :)

Angie said...

A superb photo.That was quite an achievement to get to the place where you took this photo.I would certainly have been on my hands and knees as well!

david mcmahon said...

Came here from Lana's blog. I really enjoyed this shot because of the composition and the unusual percentage of the silhouette. Makes for a compelling image.

I've been a fair way back through your blog and really enjoyed your nature shots, as well as the divers in mid-flight!

Destitute Rebel said...

What a unique picture, lovely. Must have been a fulfilling climb to get to view this.

Unknown said...

nice!!!!

Lana Gramlich said...

Sorry about the acrophobia, but what a mystical shot. I love this!

Unknown said...

no need or no words i get to write after i saw your blog , nice blog , i suppose are you very busy with your work ,these lines is saying by your work , nice work you have done.

keep it up in forward direction

god bless you

Pearl Maple said...

Following all the links on SWF is the most amazing journey, but your photos and stories are stunning. Thank you for sharing.

Kay said...

I was born and raised in Hawaii. I live in the Midwest right now and loved seeing Haleakala. You are really a fabulous photographer.

Suzi-k said...

WOW WOW WOW. The picture takes my breath away, and the info is so interesting too. LOL, I'm surprised you opened you eyes long enough to take the photo while you were on top, clutching on with fingers and toes and clenched teeth!

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