Hawaii Day 7

We didn't wake up early for the sunrise on our last day on Maui. Well, Mom did, but she got outvoted. So we slept in. Then we headed up the mountain. The top of the national park is 10,000 feet up, and driving this road was as scary as the Road to Hana. There were switchbacks, but no blind corners. Surprisingly, Dax and Dad weren't feeling that well, with headaches, nausea, and severe fatigue. We actually may have had altitude sickness. Still, the view in the crater was stunning, and looking down on the clouds out over Maui was like being in an airplane. 

Good morning Grandma and Grandpa.

We drove up the mountain through the clouds. 

It was amazing to climb so high so fast.

This was our 37th National Park.

Looking back down over Maui and the clouds.

The large volcanic crater at the top.

Mark loves national parks.

We turned in the junior ranger booklets and did a short hike to the summit. We also did a few short rim hikes, though Dax and Dad were really dragging. Always on the lookout for birds, we were really surprised to see chukars walking around in the high-altitude parking lot.

Nicest ranger!

Chukars in the parking lot! What?!?!

We also saw them on the trails.

We loved the different colors.

It was FREEZING!

Seth hiked with Mom while everyone else felt sick.

The views were awesome.

We loved watching the clouds rolls in and stop at the edge of the crater.

Seth bought a fancy new hat!

We were pretty high up!

Such a fun national park!

On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at all the pullouts, but we also stopped for a short bird hike at Hosmer Grove. There was a bird there, called the i'wii, or scarlet tanager, that Mark had his eye on. Sure enough, we found a half dozen of the bright red, long-billed birds flitting through the meadow. We really enjoyed that hike. Best of all, when we starting driving down to the lower visitor's center, we spotted the rare pueo, or Hawaiian owl. This surprised us during the day, but we were excited.

We saw the owl right before this, but didn't get a picture as we were driving.

The nene greeted us on our nature trail.

This was everyone's favorite hike.

We saw lots of birds

The cute red one we all wanted to see.

Once we were off the mountain, we still had about 4 hours before our flight. Mom wanted to visit a spot where humpbacks can be seen returning to their calving grounds during November, but we didn't spot a whale. We decided to try a new beach on the south side of the island. This one happened to be located right next to a wildlife refuge, so while Dad watched Dax and Seth splash in the waves, Mom and Mark walked the trails looking for birds and fish. We spent a few hours and played cards on the beach all the way until the sunset on our trip to Hawaii.

No whales!

The beach we found was huge and not busy.

So pretty.

Dax and Seth love the ocean.

Still spotting birds.

Dad found lots of crabs.

Seth still loves playing in the sand, too.

We found a puffer fish--no longer living.

Building some family!

The sky was so pretty!

Mom and Dad love being in Hawaii!

It was the best trip! Sad to leave!

Taking fun pics!

Not ready to go to the airport.

After a quick stop for dinner and to fill up the rental van with gas, we were back on the plane. We were grateful the redeye had no stops from Maui to Salt Lake, even though we got in and had to defrost the car back home in 20 degree temperatures. We are still trying to warm up!

Fun photo spot in the airport.