It means "Haleakala Stands Glorious"; and that it does. Haleakala or "House of the Sun" is Maui's larger, eastern volcano , which stands 10,023 feet (3,055 m) above sea level and comprises 75% of the island. According the this cool USGS site about Hawaii's volcanoes, Haleakala erupted from about a million years ago up until 1790. They say there's a chance that it'll erupt again, although the placards at the top said it was inactive.
This was my second visit up there. I found it very pleasant with only a local Hawaiian music radio station for company. The wedding party was on their horseback riding adventure, and although they had a bike ride down the mountain scheduled, I opted to do the complete trip by car.
The drive to the top take about 2 hours total from where were stayed in Kihei, on the south coast. There's a national park up there, and the $10 fee is good for 3 days total. Along the way, you travel through farmland, woodland and up into mountainous terrain. According to the National Park site, "You pass through as many ecological zones on a two hour drive to the summit of the mountain in Haleakala National Park as you would on a journey from Mexico to Canada." You'll pass through pretty dense fog, mist or just plain rain and into much cooler temps. If you go up to see the sun rise, you should definitely take a jacket or pullover, it'll be chilly. Be careful driving, as the road zig zags up the mountain for much of the drive, and there are bicycle tours coming down, so you have to share the road.
The view from the top is spectacular if you catch it on a clear day, which can be hit or miss. There's also a cute garden of ahinahina (Silversword), a plant which grows only at the top of Haleakala. It looks like I caught it just after its blooms were done.
The crater, which looks plenty volcanic to me with it's many cinder cones, was apparently formed by erosion and not by a large volcanic explosion. It's an awe-inspiring view.
I wanted an updated pic of me with Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa (the two highest volcano peaks on the big island of Hawai'i) behind me. The first time I was on Maui, Ken took a great shot of me and the peaks peaks poking up through the clouds about 100 miles away, but this time they were obscured by clouds. Here's the photo from the 1995 visit; it's one of my favorite pics evah. Maybe it' s for the best, my crow's feet were much calmer at 27 than they are at 39.
