Haleakala

September 2026
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We went on a mildly terrifying drive up to the summit of Haleakala, a shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the island of Maui. The summit is about 10,000 feet high. The road leading to the summit winds around the side of the mountain, with no shortage of death-defying hairpin turns. (OK, maybe a slight exaggeration). Death defying or not, it is well worth the trip. Especially now that I have a Senior pass.

At the Summit is Red Hill. From there, at the crater’s edge, you can look down into the cone of the volcano, which is 2,600 feet deep. It is hard to describe the scale and beauty of it except to say that it is like looking through a crystal ball into the land that time forgot.

The photos that follow give a taste of what it looks like.

JFB

Observatory

Inside the Haleakala Crater

The Haleakala Volcano Crater

Surreal Landscape

The Crater of a Volcano

At the Volcano’s Edge

Edge of the Crater

Mary Anne above the clouds on Haleakala

Mother and Child

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Aloha to the Whales

It’s been pretty busy. We caught a spectacular sunset Sunday evening—from our backyard. One of the U.S. observatories is only about 20 miles or so away on the top of the mountain, so that gives a hint of the vantage point we have about halfway up the mountain. We also did some whale watching, and spotted quite a few on their trek back to Alaska. The guides on the boat dropped a special mike into the ocean that allowed us to hear the whales singing while they swam. It was simply amazing to hear it. I recorded some of it on my iPhone and I’m trying to figure out how to post the sound track.

Anyway, we have some photos posted of sunsets, whales and the shoreline as seen from the whaleboats.

JFB

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In Maui

We finally landed in Maui yesterday after 11 hours in the air. And we were greeted this morning (around 5:30) with an earthquake on Honolulu. The tremors were strong enough to wake us up. The quake measured around 4.5 on the Richter scale, but was not big enough to stir up a tsunami. Anyway, the physical beauty of the island Maui is breathtaking. Here, below, are some early photos.

JFB