To conclude our trip in Maui, Nathaniel, his dad, and I went to hike at the top of the (inactive) Haleakala volcano, the larger of the two mountains that make up Maui. It is just above 3,000 m tall and features a large crater at its summit.

After a long drive through the flat parts of the island, we began to increase in altitude. Trees became more sparse, and soon the clouds were crossing the mountain road we were on. As we ascended beyond the cloud layer, the terrain turned reddish brown and markedly drier. In front of us was an endless ocean of clouds, much like what one would see through the window of an aeroplane.

We started our hike from a car park near the summit. The route is down into the crater, across the crater floor, and back up to the main road, a total of about 11 km. The first half of the hike was through a very exposed area with very little vegetation, offering a panoramic view of the entire crater and the clouds beyond. If it weren't for the clouds, one could easily mistake it for the Martian surface.

As we reached the bottom of the crater, more plants started to appear, most prominently the silversword, which is native to this unique location. The thin long leaves of the silversword are naturally whitened, so it is hard to tell whether one is alive or not.

The latter half of the hike was much more difficult as we climbed the much steeper crater wall. Here, the clouds roll in through a gap between the hills, creating a humid and lush area full of bushes and flowers. We were lucky to see the Nene birds, endemic to the Hawaiian islands. Walking inside a cloud, we were drenched in the thick mist. However, when we emerged from it, we were greeted with a rainbow below our feet, and we were quickly dried by the unobstructed sunshine.

After an exhausting but scenic hike, we reached the main road and hitched a ride back to the car park where we started. Perhaps this is what "hitchhiking" really means. We stopped briefly by an observation deck at the summit next to the Haleakala Observatory to admire the clouds and drove back to Lahaina.