The weather was looking better on Haleakala as we rounded the south corner of West Maui, so after visiting Iao Valley, we headed up Haleakala.  It is a slow and winding hour drive to the top from a starting point where you turn off of Hana Road and head into Upcountry Maui. We headed up the mountain a little after noon, and including stops and minimal hiking & exploring at the summit, we made it back down to McDonalds in Pukalani (upcountry) for a light lunch about 3pm.

Here are some views from the summit:

And some panoramic views to give a 360° view from the summit:
(Remember to click on a photo to load a larger view.)

And some other panoramic views from the erosion crater visitor area:

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We got round one of our exercise today by walking up the hill to the Iao Needle lookout. It has been year since I have climbed that many stairs at one once…

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Since it is our last full day on Maui, we need to take care of some essentials, like lighten our baggage for tomorrow’s flight by sending home 1 or 2 large flats rate Priority Mail boxes with the heaviest stuff we do not need with us 😉

After that, I am thinking of a drive to Iao Valley to see the needle and then into Upcountry Maui on the slopes of Haleakala and upwards to the summit if cloud cover is not heavy…

Then, back to the hotel to pack and prepare for departure tomorrow morning.  I figure we need to be out of the hotel and headed to the airport about 9am for our noon flight, since it is an hour drive to the airport and we have to stop for breakfast someplace…

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Once again the top of Molokai across Lahaina Roads Channel is wearing a fluffy cloud top:

With this in mind, I am sure the same conditions exist on the top of Pu’u Haleakala today. Humidity is still quite high, even for Hawaii, and the trade winds are now blowing a steady breeze, maintaining the cloud cover on the mountain tops…

Overall, a great improvement in weather since our arrival in Hawaii, but I doubt we will make the drive to the top of Pu’u Haleakala on this trip.

However, while sitting on the lanai this morning, I did have a little company:

Doves and pigeons galore came to rest along the balcony for about 20 minutes. At the peak, there were 16-18 birds across the balcony edge…  All gone now.

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Well, it has been about four years, since our visit to Hawaii in May 2009, since we saw the setting sun touch the sea.

We never saw it in 2011, and I was beginning to wonder about this year up until tonight….

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