As our trip approached I realized this was perhaps too big an ask for the family trip. I began to downgrade plans to just do an out-and-back on the Sliding Sands Trail. This would still get us into the Crater but would simplify the vehicle question and shorten the time and mileage question.
When the day came it was myself, my sons Luke and Seth, and my brother and nephew David and Milo who all wanted to hike. We took in the amazing sunrise with the family and then sent them back on down the mountain. We set out from the visitor center on the obvious trail to go down Sliding Sands. We initially set the goal of 2 miles down and 2 miles up. We didn't start with a specific turnaround point and just decided to see how it went.
These first couple of miles are like a highway of a trail. It was nearly double-track in width and very smooth. It made for easy hiking especially when considering it was all downhill to start. We carried very little, mostly just a water bottle a person. I did have my daypack on and I was glad for it because I started with a jacket, a thermal layer and zip pants due to the cold temperature of the sunrise. As we hiked I was regularly shedding the layers.
The trail descends through several large switchbacks and is always gradual. It dawned on us during our hike that they must take mules or horses down this trail. There are cabins for overnighting deeper into the Crater and we wonder if the stock animals are used to assist with that or if people are allowed in general to use the animals.
As we descended I began to note on my map a Crater that would be just to our north. It was coming more into view and we decided this would be a suitable turn around destination. It would add a bit of distance to our initial 4-mile goal but it would be worth.
The maps name this Crater "Kalu'uoka'o'o. As we followed the trail we descended down and around a hill top and then saw the trail break north from us to the Crater. We followed it and even had to ascend a bit to get back up to the Crater rim. We were impressed how deep it was. Perhaps more than a hundred feet? It also had a footpath around its rim which we walked. From here we got nice and unobstructed views to the open north side of Haleakala Crater including a beautiful green grassy slope which added some color perspective to all the grays, blacks and reds of the Crater.
Leaving the Crater we began our hike back up to the rim. Here we noticed a direct trail from the Crater ascending up to where we wished to be so we followed it. I noticed that the maps on my phone and my Garmin watch all showed this trail. We followed it back to our descent route and then continued our way. When this side trail met the main trail there were some nice rocks to be climbed and we spent a minute having a bit of fun on the rock. The rest of the ascent went without fanfare and made for just some nice hiking. That feeling of ending your hike uphill reminded us of our hiking in the Grand Canyon, these being the rare places where you go down then up. We certainly hope to be back to Haleakala someday to explore more of the Crater and the trails here.
Trip Info:
Sliding Sands Trail (Haleakala National Park)
Elevation Gain: 1,807 ft.
Start Time: 6:45am
End Time: 9:22am
Trip Report:
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| Silversword plant in bloom. |
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| Kalu'uoka'o'o Crater |
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| Kalu'uoka'o'o Crater |
I have a track and waypoints from the activity all contained in the embedded Google Map. Check it out and use at your own risk.
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