Haleakala 2012 – Holua to Halemauu Switchbacks (Pt 5/5)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

The last leg of our ~20 mile backpacking trip was to hike from the Holua Campsite, out of the Halemauu switchbacks to our staged vehicle at the Halemauu Trailhead (~4 miles). The last time I hiked out of here I had one of the worst backpacking experiences of my life, where I had to “drop-a-deuce” off of a cliff and in the pouring rain, with only a soggy wad of TP to clean up.

Determined not to reach an all-time low again, I waited until the last moment to go to the bathroom before setting off on the trail… after watching the sunrise, eating breakfast and packing up our gear.

…and after saying our goodbyes to the cabin, we were off into the lava fields.

I barely remembered this part of the hike from 7 years ago, and forgot that we lose elevation on the way to the switchbacks. NOTE: We are waiting for one of the crew who did not heed my advice about trailside bombing. Lucky it wasn’t pouring rain, lol.

A rainbow appeared off in the distance,

as we walked through a grassy meadow,

…and a misty fog rising from the Kipahulu gap.

Nearing the switchbacks,

We passed through a gate and wire fence line… and a familiar sign about horse courtesy and proper mannerisms while hiking.

I’m guessing it would not be difficult to spook a horse off the narrow cliff portions of the trail.

The switchbacks up the mountain were endless,

however, they were quite mild in grade and were not as demanding on our quadriceps as I had anticipated.

Most of us were thinking that hiking through the fog and clouds was a drag (because there was no view) but roughly 1/2 way up the switchbacks, we encountered a huge motivator trail-side…

Another rainbow, but this time larger and ~2/3rds complete, gleaming in the sunlight. SCORE!!!

And then the clouds burned off, where we could see much of the meadow and trail we had just hiked from the Holua Cabin.

Being one of the better lookouts on our way out of the crater, several of the crew stayed back to take enumerate photos, while the rest of us pushed on.

Unfortunately, the clouds began to roll in again, and our view was once again obscured.

Almost at our destination, I mentioned to Aaron, that it would be funny if he’d try to pass Katie right before the trailhead and parking lot…

Which lead to one of the highlights of the trip… a hilarious, but epic race between Phelps and Lochne.

Since I was the only one close enough to witness the event, I saw Katie first leading up to “just before” trailhead. Thinking the race was over, Aaron sprinted past her at the trailhead and definitely made it to the parking lot first (again, to my best recollection, lol). I wish everyone else could have seen the spectacle that would still be talked about til this day, hahahaha.

After changing into fresh clothes and picking up the other car at the “Sliding Sands” trailhead, we took a moment near the summit to do a characteristic “Jenelyn Castillo-peer-pressured-body-writing-photo.” If there weren’t exactly 9 people to spell out “Haleakala,” I would have been more than ecstatic to not participate… but I was not so lucky. lol.

After a quick stop in Paia town for some flatbread pizza, we took a drive out to east-Maui to visit one of my favorite waterfalls along the Hana Highway. Swimming in the ice-cold plunge pool at Kopiliula Falls was a great way to wrap up another Maui adventure.

Epic GoPro Video recap of our journey, courtesy of Justin Ugalino. Watch it! You won’t regret it!!!

For more adventures of the Lost Trailblazers, either look at my other blogposts and “Adventures with the Lost Trailblazers” photo gallery. Aloha and mahalo nui for visiting and come back again soon!

Questions??? Just Ask!!!