Whale Watching off the South Shore of Maui

Let's get away from the "hiking posts" today and take a trip with the Pacific Whale Foundation out of Maalaea Harbor on Maui's South Shore.  We have been patiently waiting for winter and the return of the Humpback Whales from their 4,000 mile Alaskan migration.  These whales aren't stupid, choosing to spend their winters off the Maui coast in the warm fishing waters. 

I've said it before.  We are not wildlife photographers.  There were so many whale encounters today; I lost count.  That said, I took photos of the sky, the volcano, and the back of peoples heads, all while trying to react to a two second window of opportunity.

For better or worse, here's what we ended up with.  What a wonderful way to finish up our Christmas Staycation on the Kihei Coast. 

We will do this trip again before the whales make their return to Alaska.

Leaving little Maalaea Harbor

Haleakala and our home somewhere in the distance

Before long, we started seeing blowholes spraying water.
Soon, they were all around the boat.

Whale Tail, or is it Whale Tale?

Selfie fail

Finally, I got lucky

Cropped version of the above photo

8 Months and One Broken Ankle Later, We Finally Find the Kings Trail

The last time we went searching for the Kings Trail, the outcome was close to devastating.  This time, with the help of local knowledge, we discovered there is an easier way.  Who would've thunk it?

Out past Makena and Big Beach, the road turns first to single lane asphalt and eventually dirt.  After reaching a small dirt parking lot directly in front of the ocean, there's an incredible ocean trail that leads past small coves under plentiful shade trees until you reach La Peruse Bay.  At this point, there is a small opening in a lava rock wall accessing a 100 yard spur trail which takes you onto the ancient Kings Trail.  Construction started on the trail in 1824, and it's basically a lava rock path with low lava rock walls on either side.  It's secluded with jaw dropping scenery, and ancient ruins of the Hawaiian civilization.  To top it off, Star eyed a pod of humpback whales while hiking.

When Star broke her ankle in search of this place, I knew that day we would eventually find the Kings Trail.  She wouldn't have it any other way.

We only saw a couple of hikers, but we did run into a
photo shoot about 1/2 mile into our hike.  Welcome to Maui.

Looking inland

The most comfortable stone chairs I have ever come across

Ancient Ruins of something

Memorial to surfers who met their demise

The Kings Trail

Looking up 10,000 ft. to Haleakala

 

Out here, it really feels like you're at the tip of Maui

Merry Christmas!!!

Into the Haleakala Crater

Ben and Stacie joined us for the weekend, and the highlight of their visit was a hike down the Sliding Sands Trail into the crater.  It wasn't what we originally planned, but Saturday was one of those rare days on Maui where the entire island seemed cloudy and rainy.  The only exception was Haleakala; where from our backyard we could see the top of the peak.  So, off we went to view the crater. 

When we arrived at the Summit, everything was clear except for inside the crater itself.  Clouds boiled inside the cavernous depression, and it looked as though our visitors would be denied.  We took a short hike to White Hill hoping for a break in the weather as blue sky still reigned supreme overhead.

Regardless of the weather, Stacie wanted to get into the crater.  It was a good call, as the clouds started moving out of the crater as we descended.

We didn't come prepared to make the entire 3,000 ft. descent, but we made it far enough down to capture a slice of what makes this such a spiritual place for the Hawaiians and brings people here from around the globe.

 

 

 

Hurricane Ana

In a rare occurrence, the Hawaiian Islands had 3 brushes with tropical storms this season.  Two were hurricanes hitting The Big Island pretty hard.  Thankfully, each of the storms only brushed Maui causing far less damage than a direct hit.

Anna came calling yesterday, but thankfully the eye stayed 90 miles to our south.  As a result, it was cloudy and rainy, but it was also strangely beautiful.

 

 

 

 

Now that Star has completed her two month critical hire at the park, we are ready to fire back up the blog machine.  It was a tough assignment, involving several weekend work days, but it has provided her much inspiration to start writing some short stories.  Personally, I can't wait to see what she comes up with. 

And while on the subject of writing, we just received a copy of the July 2014 edition of the English Journal in the mail, and Star's submission was the featured poem.  Way to go, Star!

 

 

Early September, we attended Maui's annual Blues and Jazz Festival in Lahaina.  A great event with superb talent located in an "out of this world" venue.  

Good thing we had a room.  The culprit was Maui Ocean Vodka
and cranberry juice.

View from our Seats

 

 

Another view from our seats

Shaka Star on the Waihee Ridge Trail

 

Descending the Ridge

Water Project and Our Temporary Water Tank on the slopes
of Haleakala

Climbed down below the crater lookout earlier this month
to find a place to build scaffolding to replace windows



Don't want to fall from here.  2,500 ft. down into the crater