Dave Wyman's Gallery
Getting High on Haleakala
There's more than one way to get high in Hawaii. There are fantastic vistas. There are physiological and psychological highs. And there are mountains to ascend, by car or, even better, on a bike.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119773
Present at the Dawn of Creation Sunrise over Haleakala Crater - we arrived by car at dawn. I'd come to Hawaii with my girlfriend, Jewel, to snorkel and hike and kayak and eat. Mostly, though, I wanted to ride my bike up Haleakala, from sea level to 10,023 feet above the sea. Distance in miles: 35.5, all but a few hundred yards of them uphill.
This first trip up the mountain let me take in its majesty at the most beautiful time of day, and I had a chance to see what the entire route was like.
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Observatories Atop Haleakala
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119774
Alternate Way for Hawaiians to Get High
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119775
Base of Operations, Up Country We rented a beautiful home in remote Ulupalakula.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119776
Beauty in A Flower
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119777
Hawaiian Flower
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10121843
Maui Vegetation
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119778
A Chance Meeting with Jazz Musician Marion Meadows After enjoying some coffee cake and coffee in a little cafe in Kula, part of up country Maui, we met famous jazz musician Marion Meadows, who also likes to ride his bike.
He mentioned his own ride on Haleakala and talked about two fellow cyclists who had to be rescued part way down the mountain on their ride from the top, when they became hypothermic due to wet conditions and soaked clothing.
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Friendly Dog A "local" didn't want Marion to continue his ride.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119779
How I Looked a Week Earlier A few weeks before our trip, I took and failed a stress test/electrocardiogram. A week before the trip, I underwent angioplasty, for a suspected blocked artery in my heart. My cardiologist ran a wire up through my wrist and into my heart, only to discover the stress test gave a false result. I learned the test results are often wrong. Better safe than sorry, though. I was back on my bike two days later.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119780
How I Appeared the Morning of the Ride I began riding up Haleakala from the town of Paia. I'd rented a bike from Maui Cyclery. I'd had a good night's sleep and felt fine. Time: 7:50 a.m.
I wore my silly but hard-earned jersey I'd purchased as a souvenir after riding up Stelvio Pass in Italy the prior summer. Wearing the jersey, I told myself, would be a talisman, like Dumbo's magic feather, giving me the confidence to reach the top, no matter what obstacles – heat, cold, fatigue – I might meet along the way.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119781
Pedaling out of Paia Although it wasn't yet 8 a.m., the air was oppressively hot and humid. Haleakala was barely visible through the morning haze of evaporating moisture.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119782
Town of Makawao
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10122008
Turn to the right at the Cowboy Church Sign!
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119783
Riders Down Hundreds of people a day take a ride down the mountain, after being hauled to the top by vans. No downhill for me until I reached the top under my own power.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119784
Riders getting ready to get back into their van.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119785
Empty Road Ahead Mostly it was me, the road and terrific scenery.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119786
Share the Road Most people drove carefully.
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9.I Noticed Some Clouds Over the Mountain
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119788
Local Artist
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119789
Follow the Winding Road The first of two sets of switchbacks. I arrived about 11 a.m. I probably still had half the ride to go.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119790
Rider Down the Switchbacks
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119791
Hawaiian Poppy It began to rain. I started putting on clothing. First my arm warmers. Then my base layer under my bike jersey. Then my leg warmers. Then my wind breaker. Although the rain was light for a long time, I was eventually soaked. I was also too tired to climb off my bike at this point for photos. Probably around 7000 feet or so I leaned over with my camera, put it close to the ground and guessed at the composition, since I couldn't see exactly what the camera was pointed at.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119792
Car Down! Nearing the last few thousand feet, visibility was much reduced.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119793
View of the Summit Pedal stroke by peal stroke, with plenty of stops, I made my way up Haleakala, otherwise known as House of the Sun. There was no sun for me, though.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119794
The Observatories Atop the Mountain
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119798
The Ridiculous Sign
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10121002
There Wasn't Much of A View from the Top
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119800
Not Quite So Peppy I needed to call Jewel for a rescue. It was too wet and too cold, particularly since my clothes were thoroughly wet, to ride back down the mountain. I'd had a one-way ticket to the top. I felt a bit cheated not to get my 35.5 mile downhill reward.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10119803
My Delayed Reward A zip line adventure a few days later made up for the sting of not being able to coast down Haleakala.
I'd come to cycle up Haleakala. I learned, though, that there was a lot more to see and to experience, from zip lining to snorkeling, from hiking to dinning, all of them far more pleasurable than pedaling 10,000 feet uphill in one day.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10121223
Kayaking Jewel and I had a wonderful vacation. Although I would bike several more times during our trip, I had more fun kayaking and snorkeling and trying to stand up on a paddle board. We finished off the trip with an island hop to Oahu, where I paddled with my arms rather than pedaled with my legs.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10121531
Waiting to Snorkel
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Jewel
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10121844
Waimoku Falls - A Fisheye View of Paradise It doesn't hurt to look up in Paradise. Too see it this way, though, you'll need a very wide-angle lens.
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10121536
Fish Kiss
https://davewyman.slickpic.com/albums/Getting-High-On-Haleakala/photo/#10121189
A Peaceful Scene A few days after my ride up the mountain, as we drove along the coast, a beautiful rainbow appeared before us. We pulled over next to a small home that sat at the edge of the water, to photograph the peaceful scene. Whether or not I ride up Haleakala, I hope I return to Maui again.
Present at the Dawn of Creation
283 views
Observatories Atop Haleakala
219 views
Alternate Way for Hawaiians to Get High
216 views
Base of Operations, Up Country
216 views
Beauty in A Flower
216 views
Hawaiian Flower
215 views
Maui Vegetation
213 views
A Chance Meeting with Jazz Musician Marion Meadows
212 views
How I Looked a Week Earlier
211 views
How I Appeared the Morning of the Ride
212 views
Pedaling out of Paia
210 views
Town of Makawao
211 views
Turn to the right at the Cowboy Church Sign!
208 views
Riders getting ready to get back into their van.
69 views
Empty Road Ahead
69 views
9.I Noticed Some Clouds Over the Mountain
70 views
Follow the Winding Road
69 views
Rider Down the Switchbacks
69 views
View of the Summit
68 views
The Observatories Atop the Mountain
68 views
The Ridiculous Sign
69 views
There Wasn't Much of A View from the Top
68 views
Not Quite So Peppy
70 views
My Delayed Reward
68 views
Waiting to Snorkel
65 views
Waimoku Falls - A Fisheye View of Paradise
288 views
A Peaceful Scene
65 views
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