Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

My boyfriend and I went to Maui for a standard tropical vacation, but found much more on this truly enchanting island. While there, we headed up to the crater of the Haleakala volcano, to hike and watch the sun set at an altitude of about 10,000 feet. Our hike began entirely in the clouds - we couldn't see more than 10 feet in any direction, which was a big disappointment since we'd come for the views. But as we hiked down into the crater, the breeze picked up and the clouds swept out for a few breathtaking minutes, revealing the crater's remarkably bleak "lunar" landscape. Our shadows stretched long across the lava fields, and we saw no one else on the trails for miles, making us feel like we had reached an incredibly remote place, despite being on an island so popular with tourists.