Hawaii Adventure in Photos Day21 - Hiking 30k in Haleakala Crater Maui

Let me share with you one of the biggest challenges I've done in my life. Hiking 30 kilometers in the middle of a crater with 25 kg packpack, sleeping in a tent in 5°C, walking in the rain and so much more...

Haleakala Crater in Maui is part of Haleakala National Park, which is a very popular spot for tourists to watch the sunrise and sunset, but it is so much more than just that! You can even go for a hike there, which is quite tough, but totally worth it.

I went to this adventure with my host, who shared his apartment with me through "Couch Surfing" while I was in Maui. We spent two days in the middle of the crater, hiking almost all day, and spent the night in a tent out there. It might sound weird, but you have to take very warm clothes with you to the hike, because the nights are extremely cold up there, even though the summer is really hot in Hawaii. I only had leggings and a jogging sweater with me, and I asked for a winter jacket and warm trousers from my host's sister :D

This is me and my host on the top of the crater. It's quite cold in the morning...

The trail starts from 3000 meters height, from the top of the crater. On the first day, we walked 15k with heavy, 25 kg backpacks filled with winter clothes, water for two days, food, tent, etc... It took us 6 hours. It was quite a bit of exercise... During the first few kilometers you walk downwards into the middle of the crater, then it becames quite flat, but the superficies vary. Somewhere there are small slippery stones on the trail, somewhere there are only lava rocks, somewhere it is sandy, and somewhere there are a few plants, as well. There are only a few signs along the trail to show you which direction to go, you mostly follow the footprints of others, and it gets very challenging when you get to the lava field because there are no signs anymore and you can't even see footprints over there. At that moment I almost freaked out because I was extremely tired already, I had pain everywhere, in my legs, in my back, my hips, etc. and we didn't even know which direction to go. We were walking around for an hour to search for some signs, then finally we just guessed and thank god we were right, we found the right way.

Well, I've never been to Mars yet, but this is how I imagine it :D The whole trail was truly wonderful, but the heavy backpacks made the hike a bit more intense. I had a crazy muscle strain in my legs, even though I'm a runner and I run 10k per day five times a week.

When we finally arrived at the campground, we set up the tent and it started raining right after we finished. I realized how bad the hike would had been if it was raining all the way there, so I was very grateful for getting there dry and safe.

We had a well-deserved dinner in the tent, having whole grain bread with guacamole.

As it was raining all night long, we were just staying in the tent, sharing great stories with each other. We definitely needed the winter clothes coz it was extremely cold up there. The next day, we started our hike back to the top of the crater but through a different trail. It was extremely difficult to get going, knowing that we have 16k in front of us, and having all that muscle strain and pain everywhere in our body from carrying those huge backpacks. Anyways, you have to get back somehow, so you gotta keep going, otherwise, you die there. Well, there is an office where you have to register before entering the crater's trail, where you have to leave your personal information, as well as your plan about how long you wanna stay in the crater, which route you are going to go, etc.,and you have to "check out" after you get back, so they know that you are back safe. Otherwise, they start looking for you by helicopter. This hike is for real, you can die there if you are not prepared. I'm so glad I had my host coming with me!! It would have been tough without him.

On the way back, it started raining after 2k, so we were walking for 5 hours in rain, we didn't even stop to eat because everything was completely wet. It was still not enough, the cherry on the top of the cake was the last 3 kilometers, which led through a very slippery, rocky and extremely steep hill-side. I couldn't believe when we finally caught the sight of the end of the trail. It was such a wonderful feeling... But then, we still needed to hitchhike back to our car. We were sitting in the rain for another 30 minutes until a car finally came and picked us up.

Anyways, despite all the circumstances, it was one of the best adventures of my life! I was soooo proud of myself!!!