Halemau`u Trail, across Ko`olau Gap. April 25, 2002

All Around Maui: Halemau`u Trail, across Ko`olau Gap. April 25, 2002

I went on what was supposed to be a short hike today with the deliberate purpose of getting some fern photos in early light. I was at the trail head at 5:15 am, so that I could get to the first views into the crater by sunrise at 6:00 am. I didn't end up getting the fern photos that I had hoped to. The weather could have been nicer. Clouds blew through the crater, leaving me with uninteresting white backgrounds for most of the time I spent on the trail. There were occasional clearings, which yielded some of the photos below, in which it looks like a very clear day.

I did a longer hike than I had planned. I had planned to turn around once I reached the crater floor, which would have made a 5 mile round trip hike. Once on the bottom, I couldn't stop myself from continuing. Today I followed a minor trail (it isn't marked on the National Park brochure) that crosses the mouth of Ko`olau Gap and leaves you at the base of Hanakauhi. This made the hike 10 miles round trip.

Descending Leleiwi Pali (cliff)

DSCN1254
Ferns with Hanakauhi in the background.
April 25, 2002. 6:37:29 AM.

DSCN1261
April 25, 2002. 6:42:02 AM.

DSCN1267
April 25, 2002. 6:48:15 AM.

`Ohia tree with fern, revisited

The following two photos are of the same tree as my DSCN1244 and DSCN1245 photos from my April 12 hike on this trail. The photos today were taken about 12 hours in the day earlier than the photos from the previous hike. This time the photos are sharp, because I used a tripod in direct sunlight instead of shooting handheld in fading indirect light, but I think this subject looks better with diffuse light.

dscn1273
April 25, 2002. 6:57:47 AM.

DSCN1278
April 25, 2002. 6:59:52 AM.

On the crater floor

DSCN1282
This is the North view from where the trail leaves you on the crater floor, after descending Leleiwi Pali (cliff). There is a lot of grass here of a species not present in more remote areas of the park. My guess is that it was introduced as grazing food for horses back in the Bad Old Days before ecological sensitivity.
April 25, 2002. 7:20:43 AM.

DSCN1287
April 25, 2002. 7:39:44 AM.

DSCN1296
April 25, 2002. 8:02:56 AM.

DSCN1301
April 25, 2002. 9:34:01 AM.

DSCN1311
This is the base of Hanakauhi, after I crossed the mouth of Ko`olau Gap.
April 25, 2002. 9:35:36 AM.

DSCN1314
I like both the texture of the lava and the patterns of the stringy vegetation.
April 25, 2002. 9:58:13 AM.

DSCN1321
Two lone `Ohia trees in this lower portion of the crater.
April 25, 2002. 10:02:28 AM.

DSCN1327
Looking toward Hanakauhi from the east edge of Ko`olau Gap.
April 25, 2002. 10:03:33 AM.