Haleakala After Glow

As is often the case with sunsets, the show isn’t over just because the sun as dropped below the horizon.  The sky often continues to put on a show from the sun’s rays that continue to sort of bounce around the sky.  And, as we drove down Haleakala, we continued to get a pretty fabulous show!

At first, the light was still the warm light that we saw from the sun as it set…..

Evening Warmth

But, then, the cool night sky began to claim its territory…..

After Glow

And, then, as night fell, the colors glowed with the cool pinks and purples of day’s end, before the pitch dark of night completely took over….

Evening Magic

Enjoy!

Haleakala Afternoon & Sunset

Since we had a lot of time before our flight, Jeff and I decided to visit Haleakala one last time, this time to see and photograph the sunset that night.  As we drove up toward the summit, we wondered if we’d get to see a sunset, since we were bogged down in heavy fog and clouds, with some drizzle happening from time to time.  But, then, just before we reached the summit, we burst thru into the sunshine and blue skies!  We stopped at the place where we saw the sunrise just a couple of weeks before, and this time saw clouds just rolling into what is known as the crater.  However, that crater has been worn away by erosion to the extent that if we could see it minus the clouds, it wouldn’t look like a crater at all.

Clouds Creeping Up the Crater

We then drove about a half mile to the absolute top of Haleakala, where we could see Mona Kea and Mona Loa from an observation area.  As you can see, they barely broke thru the cloud cover on this day, even tho both of them are over 13,000 feet in elevation!  And, both of those mountains are on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Mona Kea and Mona Loa from Maui

After a while, the sunset began to happen.  At first, tho, the light just seemed to play over the cloud tops, which we were looking down on!  That is quite a surreal experience, if you stop to think about it.  I have been higher than the clouds, but generally from a plane, and now I was just standing near the edge of Haleakala’s summit.  I processed this image as black and white, just to emphasize the contrast of the play of the light on the clouds.

Early Evening Rays

When the sunset began, the light gave the tops of the clouds a sort of golden glow.  It was also interesting to me that some of the clouds appeared almost wispy, especially those closest to me.  The dark on the bottom of the image is the rocky land upon which I stood.

Golden Light

And, then it began!  The sun just glowed a warm orange as it began to set behind a higher ridge of clouds.  It again seemed a bit surreal as I’m used to the sun setting below the clouds, and not from above them!

End of Day

We stayed until the sun was just about gone.  I sort of hated to leave, as I felt like this sunset truly marked the end of our visit here.  As the sun set behind the cloud ridge, the clouds in front took on that wonderful contrast type of look.  I’m glad the cloud cover was so high on this day as it allowed me to photograph this sunset with the clouds truly at my feet.

Almost Gone

Enjoy!

Drive Down Magic Mountain

Whew!  After we got back in the Jeep and sat there for just a few minutes, thawing, we took off for what I thought would be a typical, anticlimactic drive down the mountain.  After all, what could even come close to seeing both the super blue blood moon and a great Haleakala sunrise?  Things began to look rather unlike any drive down a mountain that I’ve ever seen pretty quickly…..

Morning on the Mountain

Abstract Morning

Then, as we continued to drive, the warm light from the sunrise began to play with the mountain and clouds…..

Clouds upon Clouds upon Mountain

Dramatic Lighting

Then, I thought the moon was done putting on its show for the morning, but it decided to get into the act with the mountains, clouds and sunrise colors!

Show’s Not Over

Colors of Nature

Landscape

Enjoy!

Haleakala Sunrise

The reason I got the parking permit was really to see the sunrise come up over the Haleakala Crater.  Altho I tend to say that it’s dormant, when I looked it up, it’s just classified as “normal”.  It has erupted numerous times over the past 30,000 years, with the last eruption being about 500 years ago.  The name Haleakala means “house of the sun”, and its land mass makes up about 75% of the island of Maui.  However, none of this comes to mind when you’re standing there, waiting for the sun to appear.  Pretty much all you can think about is how COLD you are, because, of course, you didn’t pack winter clothes for a trip to Maui!  Still, all the cold is worthwhile when you begin to see the opening act of the sunrise – dawn breaking.

Almost Sunrise

Now, to be honest, Jeff and I didn’t stand outside during the 2 1/2 hours between the blood moon and sunrise.  Nope – we dozed in a nice, warm Jeep!  But, we did get out about 30 minutes before the sunrise and stood in the enclosed visitors’ center for a bit.  But, for the last 20+ minutes, we were outside, so I could be sure to get an unobstructed view of the sunrise.  When the sun first made an appearance, a cheer went up!

First Peek

A great source of entertainment while waiting for the sun to more fully appear was to watch how folks were trying to keep warm.  Jeff & I weren’t dressed in winter gear, but we were dressed in layers to some extent, but some folks were wearing rather warm weather attire and then attempted to wrap themselves in the blankets they presumably took from their hotel rooms.  The woman next to us made the mistake of trying to re-wrap herself.  The wind just took that blanket and kept blowing it around, so that she wasn’t able to get it around herself again to save her soul.  At least, she didn’t turn the wrong way, so that the blanket would become a bit of a parachute and carry her away!  And, there was one macho cyclist, who only had on his short sleeve riding shirt and his biking shorts.  He stood so still I began to think he had frozen in place!! He wasn’t even wearing appropriate sunrise colors, either!

Morning Colors

One of the things I am always taken with when I see photos of the Haleakala sunrise is the detail of the clouds.  For those of you who may not know this, the sort of grey just below the sun are the clouds.  They seep into the crater and then the sun rises above them.  I don’t know of many other places where you can watch the sun rise above the clouds, unless you’re flying!  Check out the clouds in these next couple of images!

Haleakala Glory

Soft Clouds on Haleakala

As the sunrise progresses, the sun begins to fill in the detail of the crater rocks that are right in front of us.  It really gives you a sense of place, so to speak.  No, you’re not up there floating above it all!  This tends to happen at the end of the “show”, and right after this we headed back to the Jeep to try to get warm and drive down the mountain.  I thought the show was over for the morning.  Little did I know!

Crater Detail

Enjoy!

Super Blue Blood Moon

What luck!  We just happened to be in Maui at the time of the first super blue blood moon in our lifetime, at least in North America.  And, thru brilliant planning, I got us a parking permit to be at the top of the Haleakala volcano crater on that day.  Well, ok, it was just pure dumb luck!

We did have out doubts about being able to capture the moon on my camera, tho, not because it was so bloody cold – altho it was!  No, it was due to the incredible wind up there!! Altho I braced myself as best I could and held my breath when I clicked on the shutter, the wind buffeted me so badly, it was impossible to get a good clear shot. In many of my shots, it looked like the moon was doing a little dance.

Dancing Moon

 That being said, one thing that the wind helped me to create was this neat moon abstract!  I didn’t think it was quite this windy, but the image seems to tell a different tale….

Moon Abstract

Then, finally, Jeff hit on the best way to get a decent shot of the moon.  He reclined his seat in the Jeep all the way back and could see the moon out the back window.  Then, when the scattered cloud cover cleared up for a moment, he lowered the window, took my camera from me, and took a shot.  Yes, the image below was shot by my ace photographer’s assistant, Jeff!

Worth Getting up For

Enjoy!

Haleakala at Mid-day

We had some time before we could check into our cottage, so we decided to drive up Haleakala and find out information about the upcoming super/blue/blood moon that happens to be occurring while we are here.

Although we started out in tropical sunshine, as we drove up the mountain, we drove thru a cloud bank that made me feel like we might have somehow stumbled into the Pacific Northwest!  I loved the way the wisps of clouds played among the trees.

Trees in the Mist

Then, we came thru the clouds into the sunshine again, at the Haleakala Crater.  It was somewhat filled with clouds rolling in and out.  I also couldn’t help but take a photo of Jeff & me taking photos of the crater, and having our shadows reflected in the landscape!

Clouds in the Crater

Ace Photographers

It was kind of amazing, and I had a thought that others who might be flying in today would take an image from the plane, much as I did earlier in the day!  This is from the opposite perspective, in a way.  I am so looking forward to sunrise the day after tomorrow, as I write this!

Looking Out from Haleakala

Enjoy!