Granite Cliff Studio

How many times do you pack for a trip? It’s not a terrible thing if you pack too much when you are going on a regular vacation, however what if you have to carry everything on your back? You are also packing everything you need to survive in the wilderness. How much water, food and clothing is necessary? Where are you going and how drastic can the weather change? These questions are only answered after you are on your adventure and experience a scenario that you may or may not have been prepared for.

During my time on Maui, I have been to Haleakalā maybe 50 times in 10 years, this includes Hosmer’s Grove, Kipahulu District, various cabins inside the crater and the occasional day trip. This story is about Jamie and I actually tent camping and backpacking to Palikū and Hōlua, a first for both of us. We do have a great history at Hōlua cabin as this is where I proposed to Jamie 5 years ago. I have stayed at Palikū cabin twice and had the luxury of staying 2 nights both times. With this day of rest I usually filled my pack with games and booze and didn’t have to carry a tent. Not that a tent weighs a significant amount, we have a four pound two man tent. This is where it starts to get tricky. Most experts advise you to only carry about 20% of your weight, example, a 200 pound person should carry about 40 pounds. Forty pounds is not that much, I usually carry around a camera backpack that weighs about 30 pounds. A liter of water weighs about 2.2 pounds, when hiking you need to be prepared in case there is no water at the campground, so you need to bring enough to last the duration. Knowing that Palikū is a very wet place we gambled and knew we could treat the water there, so I loaded the pack with 6 liters of water, approximately 13 lbs. We can see where this is going, tent, sleeping bag, water, food and camera gear added up to about 60 lbs. No problem, like I said, I do carry around my camera bag often and felt comfortable taking on this weight.

Our first day is a true story of perseverance, mental toughness and teamwork. We had a little bit of a late start as we had to take care of some important adult stuff before we could disappear for 4 days. It was a Friday and we would not be back until Monday. Ahead of us, the Halemau’u Trail and 10+ miles with 2600 feet of elevation change. Also known as switchbacks, the beginning of this trail was all downhill and with heavy packs can be rough on the legs. Large step downs have always been my least favorite type of trail, but it’s easy to ignore when you have amazing views of the crater of Haleakalā and the jungles of the Ko’olau Gap. We made it down the 3 mile switchbacks and took a quick break. While getting on our way to our first real rest stop at Hōlua my shoulder strap ripped out of the stitching at the bottom. Jamie, instantly had the look of, oh no, now what. I MacGyvered the strap until I could really assess what happened. This would be a sign of things to come. The first 3 miles was in a nice cloud with misty showers to keep us cool, ideal conditions, now on the crater floor, even though we were above 6000 feet the heat began. Exposed to the heat and tired we were glad to see the cabin was empty. We quickly dropped our stuff and found the shade next to the cabin.

The next part of the journey was uphill to the precipice of the middle of the crater. The center of the crater is littered with pu’us or cinder cones and the ground is fine and difficult to get firm footing. We waited at Hōlua for the sun to dip a little further so we could hike in a little more comfort. This would backfire on us extremely! The heavy packs we carried kept our pace to about an hour per mile, this would result in a shortage of daylight. An experienced hiker has to be willing to accept tough situations and try to move forward in the safest and most positive way. This was our moment, as daylight started to fade the rain started to dump. We gathered together and prepared ourselves for the last 3 miles. Loaded with lights and rain gear, we continued on. At no point did we get down or distressed, or so I think, hiking in the pitch black is one thing, sideways rain is another but the water was getting deep. There were long stretches where I was just walking in foot deep waterfalls. This made following the path very difficult. Our pace was very slow at this point, we were just trying to make sure no one would turn an ankle or fall and do something worse. Many times I would have to stop and make sure we were going the right way, from mile 2 to mile 1 there were about 4 signs that said trail and these were definitely sights for sore eyes.

For those that know the hike to Palikū, there is a big hill with a sign at the 1.3 mile point, at this moment normally you start to breeze down the hill and see the back wall behind the cabin. For us, on this day, that was not the case, this last segment would take us about an hour and half, continuously, checking on each other to make sure everyone was okay physically and most importantly mentally. I think at this point someone not mentally strong would have probably broken down and had a panic attack or become angry and hopeless. There are moments in a marriage that create a stronger bond, it could be grieving, success, daily affirmations, or completing what seems like an impossible task together. Never ceasing support for each other, we made it to our campground. The next moments would be crucial how our night would go. The rain was still at DEFCON 1 and we needed to hurry. Almost like a military operation, we got the tent up and packs inside minimizing any wetness. Telling my wife to get inside, fast so she could change out of her wet clothes and get inside a dry sleeping bag was the priority if we didn’t want to get sick. Everything was going as planned, sleeping pads were being blown up to get off the wet ground, dry socks and underwear changed, lantern found and hanging from the ceiling, diving into the warm sack. Efficient and now comfortable, adrenaline still pumping, we started to realize what we just accomplished. As a team, we completed probably the most difficult situation you would ever want to face while hiking, being wet and cold in the dark.

On the lighter side of the situation, what do you do when you just became warm and toasty in your sleeping bag and about to fall asleep and you have to use the restroom?

My two favorite quotes while we were en route at the worst conditions:

Jamie, “It’s like a bad dream that won’t end.”

Luke, “This is like f#@king Vietnam!”

Nothing feels better when you wake up after that night and the sun is shining and you are in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Palikū welcomed us this day with an amazing sunrise turning the horizon gold and purple. We woke and met some neighbors who confirmed that was a crazy night. A couple of Maui girls shared their empathy when they heard us arrive the night before. We began operation dry-off, hanging all our wet items in the sun and wind so we could use them again. There really wasn’t anything that wasn’t wet except my camera gear. Hooray! A day of rest was planned so we could start fresh the next day and hike back to Hōlua. We hung out and had some coffee and tea, filtered some water for the trek back, setup our trusty lightweight chair and admired the beautiful Ohia Lehua trees nearby. Shortly after our morning chores I noticed a Pueo flying around the nearby horse field. What a great companion for our day of rest, another Pueo would show up later and the two would fly around all day and into the night. The Hawaiian short-eared owl is Jamie’s ʻaumākua and this reassured us that the way back we would be watched over.

I brought my camera gear in hopes of some Milky Way photography but our first night was cancelled due to rain and so would our second. We watched the gorgeous and clear sunset and fell asleep immediately thereafter. The perfect weather receded back into a windy, rainy evening. As disappointing as this made me for my photography, it was an exciting way to spend a night in a tent.

We awoke to sideways showers but decided we didn’t want to be on the trail all day in the heat so packed everything up all wet and got on our way. What we did not see on the way to Palikū was now clear as day and the rain was clearing up. Halfway up a large ascend we could now see the two large volcanos of Hawaii Island, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The landscape changed every twenty minutes from native Hawaiian plants growing out of lava to barren lava with sharp jagged edges reaching for the sky. Around the next corner was fine red cinder forming a soft steep cone, with a large tube below leading to the center of the Earth. Like a child going to Discovery World, we are always amazed by the geology of Haleakalā, it seems new and different every time although it has not changed for tens of thousands of years. Pele was a magnificent creator and this subregion is her priceless piece of art. After our walk in the red cinder we return to black cinder and a vast field of lava chunks frozen from their slow crawl, like frozen waves of black magma. A possible sight of a fight between hobbits or Jedis spurs the imagination. Another sense here is that you can hear no sound, no wind, no birds, no ocean, just like your in a painting and only your thoughts can distract from the quiet.

We finally saw our first people on the trail this day. We met and chatted during our 4 days with people from Germany, India, Maui, and Scandinavia, everyone always excited to talk about their current accomplishments. Some places in the world are truly life changing, not like instant gratification but a new perspective on life. All your problems become insignificant and less of a priority when your spirit experiences the higher powers that nature provides. These experiences make our ego shrink and humble us to a level where we think, why doesn’t everyone experience this, it will make them so much more wiser and maybe they will see what is really important in life. Unfortunately, that is not the case and this is truly a personal experience and only us can feel the change within ourselves.

We arrived for our final night on the west side of Haleakalā at Hōlua campground. We spread out everything to dry again and this area was much more arid and crispy and quickly accomplished our needs. We setup camp and fired up the jetboil for some dinner. Ramen was the main course with a side of beef jerky. It was nice to rest the previous day, and I was anxious for some astrophotography so as Jamie slept I stayed up and admired the sky. Haleakalā is definitely a dark sky area and was the first place I ever captured the Milky Way. This night was a new moon and the stars shined bright. In most places it is hard to see the Milky Way because of light pollution but here it is visible and clear to the naked eye, like a stain in the sky the large belt stretched from one corner to the other. One day, I will be able to afford a wider angle lens but on this day my 24mm would suffice. Shooting stars, satellites, planets, airplanes and spaceships soared over head until I could take no more.

Back out the switchbacks of the Halemau’u trail for our last day of hiking. This moderate climb is the last test of your strength and stamina. With a little bit lighter pack the large steps up have lesser impact then those giant steps down with more weight. The motivation of a cheeseburger and a beer always seems to increase our pace. The last time Jamie and I hiked up this trail I had proposed to her the day before and she couldn’t wait to get phone reception to tell her family. It’s always great to have a sense of urgency on the way out, but it’s also nice to enjoy the journey, you never know if you will be back or if some global pandemic will take these opportunities away.