Hawaii Shrine

Photos by Karen & Jim Byerly

A Day In The Volcano

We wanted to see more of Haleakala than we did on our previous trip. We had decided against a hike in the thin air of the 10,000 foot summit and opted for a horseback ride to the floor of the crater instead. We began our day before sunrise with a walk on the beach along Maalaea Bay as we had done each day during our stay. We had to be at the summit of Haleakala by 9:30. When we arrived at the summit we found the morning temperature in the mid 40's with a strong wind. Karen says that's cold! I was really happy to have a pair of gloves along.

We met our guides from Pony Express at the trail head. They were unloading our mounts from their truck. I can't really say enough about our terrific guides. They were both knowledgeable and entertaining. A good guide can be the difference between a good ride and one that doesn't end so well if you know what I mean. We were in luck, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining brightly. As we started down the trail we saw the remnants of an island born of Pele's fire; still rough a'a lava as well as the multi-hued colors of the volcanic soil.

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