Lonely Haleakala Sunset

One of the things to do when visiting Maui, is to watch the sunrise from the summit of Haleakala volcano, which stands over 10,000 feet above the surrounding Pacific Ocean. And on our first trip to the Hawaiian islands, we did just that (see my previous post, Haleakala Sunrise, Maui).

On our return visit, however, we decided to mix things up. This time we headed up the mountain during the late afternoon, to watch the sunset. And what a difference it made.

The skies were a similar progression of colours, although this time in reverse, going from blue to orange to black, instead of the other way around. Yet the big difference was the peace.

Sunrise is a bit of a scramble, with bus tours and full parking lots. But sunset is clearly for the more discerning Sun watchers. In fact, on the evening we drove up Haleakala to watch the Sun go down, there were so few people about, we almost felt we had the whole mountain to ourselves.

So my advice is this: if you find yourself on Maui, the sunrise is spectacular. But don’t forget about the sunset (especially if you’re not a morning person)… it’s a whole different, and surprisingly-underrated, experience!

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This post was inspired by the photo themes of Rise/Set from Erica of The Daily Post and Alone from Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge.