Getting High on Haleakala by Dave Wyman by Dave Wyman

Getting High on Haleakala

By Dave Wyman
Mar 17, 2015
36 Photos

Dave Wyman's Gallery

Getting High on Haleakala

Mar 17, 2015
36 Photos

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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.)

Observatories Atop Haleakala

Alternate Way for Hawaiians to Get High

Base of Operations, Up Country (We rented a beautiful home in remote Ulupalakula.)

Beauty in A Flower

Hawaiian Flower

Maui Vegetation

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.)

Friendly Dog (A "local" didn't want Marion to continue his ride.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

Town of Makawao

Turn to the right at the Cowboy Church Sign!

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.)

Riders getting ready to get back into their van.

Empty Road Ahead (Mostly it was me, the road and terrific scenery.)

Share the Road (Most people drove carefully.)

9.I Noticed Some Clouds Over the Mountain

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.)

Rider Down the Switchbacks

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.)

Car Down! (Nearing the last few thousand feet, visibility was much reduced.)

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.)

The Observatories Atop the Mountain

The Ridiculous Sign

There Wasn't Much of A View from the Top

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.)

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.)

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.)

Waiting to Snorkel

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.)

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.)

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