Day 6 - Haleakala Crater

I had called the weather service and found that the sunrise on the top of Haleakala was scheduled for 6:48AM. I didn’t really think twice about the time and that this sounded kind of late. We planned for a two hour drive, plus 1 hour of extra time to make sure we found a parking spot. We also hoped to catch it go from pure black to the sunrise. We packed some coffee, tea, and some stuff for breakfast and got on the road by 4AM. It was a good thing we had planned on that extra time. I must have either misheard the time for the sunrise, or the weather service recorded it wrong because sunrise was closer to 5:45AM. The drive up was uneventful, other than just the general nature of the drive. The road to the top is the greatest elevation change in the shortest distance in the world. As we were getting close to the top we were commenting how light it was getting. We ended up only beating the sunrise by about 20 minutes. Shawnna wasn’t feeling real well and we didn’t have a great spot to watch the sunrise; nonetheless, it is still a pretty impressive sunrise as it the sun peaks over the top of the clouds. Because it is so high, the sun actually rises out of the clouds which are spread out below you. Even with the time issue and not having a great "view" it was still beautiful and amazing. It was very moving experience. Some folks who go to Maui skip the sunrise completely. Saying "It's tooo early" But it is worth it!! Worth the early wake up call, the car sickness, and braving the cold. Besides, if you go early enough in your vacation your body will be ready to get up anyway. Pack a breakfast and take a nap on the beach when you get back : )

After the sunrise, we relaxed and ate some breakfast and then bundled up to hike inside of the crater on the Sliding Sands trail. We had jackets and pants and it was a good thing since it was about 38 deg F at the top of the crater. The inside of the crater is just amazing. It is completely desolate except for a couple of spindly shrubs. And the inside is untouched except for a small trail that winds its way through the crater. We took the trail for about a mile and a half and then walked back which is only a small portion of the trail. The most amazing part is the absolute utter quiet while we were hiking. We stopped for a little while and just sat there and listened to the absolute silence (I know, how do you listen to silence).

By the time that we finished hiking back to the car, Shawnna was really not feeling well and her ear and neck were really bothering her. We ended up at the Kahului Emergency Room on a Sunday afternoon. Very interesting to say the least. Also waiting were a homeless guy ranting and raving about someone hitting him on the head, a lady who looked high who had cut her hand and a little boy with an ankle injury. Needless to say it was decent people watching. After waiting about an hour, Shawnna was diagnosed with an inner ear infection which she was given prescriptions for some pain pills and a Z-pack to clear up the infection. Luckily, since it was an inner ear infection, the doctor said that she could continue to snorkel and swim as long as she didn’t notice it getting any worse.
I like how my husband says "ear and neck were really bothering her". I was in PAIN! The worst PAIN I have ever EXPERIENCED!! In so much pain that when the dr. touched the area around my ear I yelled and nearly smacked him! I was still in pain when we came home so I followed up with my doctor. Because I had a cold before we left and was still a little congested, the pressure and altitude changes during our flights over caused my Eustachian tube to not be able to regulate the pressure in my ear, causing a blockage. Because of the blockage and the congestion developed into an infection. The Z-pack sort-of worked, but because the infection hadn't drained out completely, the trip home was just as painful as the trip over. I continued antibiotics for 3 weeks. And no, the drive up and back from Haleakala didn't help things, but it was still worth it!!

We picked up her meds and came home. Watched another gorgeous sunset and called it a day.
Stay tuned......some awesome snorkeling stories coming up : )