Following the pattern over the last few days...day 4 began a good 4 hours before the crack of dawn. But today there was a noble reason for this insanity of getting up that early, the break of dawn itself, or as the lazy people like to call it, sunrise. Over the years this phenomenon of sunrise along with its evening buddy sunset have climbed the stairs to mythical proportions in my psyche. I have ended up making many a beelines to witness the aforementioned spectacles of sun's interaction with the earth. Today was no different. I was gonna drive in pitch dark on a curvy mountain road right to the summit of Haleakala - a not so dormant volcano.Add to that some freezing rain and it turns into madness, most definitely.
So that was the plan for today. The instinct reaction when we stepped out of the room to leave was to turn back and hunker down in the bed for eternity. It was raining and the sky was full of cumulonimbus clouds for as far as the eye could see. Turning back would have been a logical reaction. But ever the defiant of logic, and the fire of enthusiasm burning through the missez, we braved our way to the waiting Mustang. We had been warned about the freezing cold at the summit, so we were armed with nothing less than bulky towels because that was the best we could do in terms of gathering winter clothing in this tropical state.
The initial drive until the right turn on the Road to Hana was uneventful and kinda cozy. From then on it was a gradual-initially-steep-later on ascent to the top. Nothing much was visible on our way up , thanks to the pitch black of the night aided by the blinding rain. We literally crawled to the top, averaging around 15 miles an hour. The chances of actually witnessing anything remotely close to a sunrise were fading thick and fast in the gathering storm clouds. The elevation markers kept coming in and out of the focus of my headlights, indicating every 1000 ft of our accent. The observation center is situated at approximately 10,000 ft on the mountain. But when we parked at what we thought was the parking lot, there was no sign of anything apart from clouds. I bravely opened the door to access the weather situation outside and the left side of my body had turned comfortably numb within the few seconds that I took to correct my folly. Wrapped with towels around my head , I finally stepped out to find the observation center and more importantly to relieve my ailing bladder. Surprisingly there was a loo even at that crazy altitude and my dream of "public urination" in the US 0f A got postponed for yet another day.
The sun in the meantime was fighting a loosing battle with the dense clouds at this elevation. The sunrise time quickly passed and the crowd gathered to view the spectacle started thinning quickly ,utterly disappointed. I on the other hand was determined to sit out this minor setback and wait for that wee bit of clearing in the clouds. But my patience was being genuinely tested here. So we decided to drive a little further up all the way to the summit. Another 300ft or so up, just to let the sun and the clouds sort out their issues in private. Missez was frozen and flatly refused to entertain any requests of stepping out of the Mustang. So I wrapped my towel and headed out and to my utter disbelief the view that I saw first up was mind-blowing. I was standing at the summit of the tallest mountain on the island with a blanket of clouds all around and below me. The below part was particularly amazing. There were varying layers of clouds each moving at its own velocity and therefore creating a clearing every now and then enabling me lots and lots of glimpses of the breathtaking view below my line of vision. I recorded a 360 degree view of the panorama for the wife's benefit. And then just lingered on. It was so peacefully beautiful up there that I just couldn't make myself leave. My reverie was finally broken by the yelling missez who had to step out of her thawing state to find me. After a little cajoling she finally joined me in the panorama admiration society that I had set up in promptu. Absorbing as much beauty as I possibly could we drove back to the observation center keeping our fingers crossed. The skirmish seemed to have been resolved in favor of the sun for now at least. I made the most of it and click - clicked the camera to my hearts content.
On our way down the snaking road the rain was slowly giving way to sunshine. Every turn of the curving road opened to ever changing panoramas, each one more beautiful than the last one. We even saw a full rainbow and the faint hint of a double. It was simply breathtaking driving down that road. Almost all the way down the mountain we stopped at a roadside inn for breakfast. The eggs Benedict and hash browns were yummy and just perfect. With nothing specific planned for the rest of the day, we were taking it easy and stopping at all possible spots. Spotted at least 4 hump backs right from the shore on one such stop and explored another part of the island which we hadn't previously planned.The top was down on the Mustang and it was an amazingly beautiful day. Tummies full with the yummy stuff and hearts full of all the beauty we were off for an afternoon siesta.
Act 2 of the day was short and sweet and began late in the afternoon at around 4. We headed straight to a beach. Weren't too enthusiastic to take a dip so after a few minutes of wading we were off to the Front Street. Front street here is like the mall road of our Indian hill stations. Full of shops and eating places. We decided to stick to the chains and opted for the Hard Rock Cafe. Also caught a glimpse of a beautiful sunset over the pacific.
Thats was curtains on day 4. Snap count 400 and add to that at least 6 video recordings for the day.
So that was the plan for today. The instinct reaction when we stepped out of the room to leave was to turn back and hunker down in the bed for eternity. It was raining and the sky was full of cumulonimbus clouds for as far as the eye could see. Turning back would have been a logical reaction. But ever the defiant of logic, and the fire of enthusiasm burning through the missez, we braved our way to the waiting Mustang. We had been warned about the freezing cold at the summit, so we were armed with nothing less than bulky towels because that was the best we could do in terms of gathering winter clothing in this tropical state.
The initial drive until the right turn on the Road to Hana was uneventful and kinda cozy. From then on it was a gradual-initially-steep-later on ascent to the top. Nothing much was visible on our way up , thanks to the pitch black of the night aided by the blinding rain. We literally crawled to the top, averaging around 15 miles an hour. The chances of actually witnessing anything remotely close to a sunrise were fading thick and fast in the gathering storm clouds. The elevation markers kept coming in and out of the focus of my headlights, indicating every 1000 ft of our accent. The observation center is situated at approximately 10,000 ft on the mountain. But when we parked at what we thought was the parking lot, there was no sign of anything apart from clouds. I bravely opened the door to access the weather situation outside and the left side of my body had turned comfortably numb within the few seconds that I took to correct my folly. Wrapped with towels around my head , I finally stepped out to find the observation center and more importantly to relieve my ailing bladder. Surprisingly there was a loo even at that crazy altitude and my dream of "public urination" in the US 0f A got postponed for yet another day.
The sun in the meantime was fighting a loosing battle with the dense clouds at this elevation. The sunrise time quickly passed and the crowd gathered to view the spectacle started thinning quickly ,utterly disappointed. I on the other hand was determined to sit out this minor setback and wait for that wee bit of clearing in the clouds. But my patience was being genuinely tested here. So we decided to drive a little further up all the way to the summit. Another 300ft or so up, just to let the sun and the clouds sort out their issues in private. Missez was frozen and flatly refused to entertain any requests of stepping out of the Mustang. So I wrapped my towel and headed out and to my utter disbelief the view that I saw first up was mind-blowing. I was standing at the summit of the tallest mountain on the island with a blanket of clouds all around and below me. The below part was particularly amazing. There were varying layers of clouds each moving at its own velocity and therefore creating a clearing every now and then enabling me lots and lots of glimpses of the breathtaking view below my line of vision. I recorded a 360 degree view of the panorama for the wife's benefit. And then just lingered on. It was so peacefully beautiful up there that I just couldn't make myself leave. My reverie was finally broken by the yelling missez who had to step out of her thawing state to find me. After a little cajoling she finally joined me in the panorama admiration society that I had set up in promptu. Absorbing as much beauty as I possibly could we drove back to the observation center keeping our fingers crossed. The skirmish seemed to have been resolved in favor of the sun for now at least. I made the most of it and click - clicked the camera to my hearts content.
On our way down the snaking road the rain was slowly giving way to sunshine. Every turn of the curving road opened to ever changing panoramas, each one more beautiful than the last one. We even saw a full rainbow and the faint hint of a double. It was simply breathtaking driving down that road. Almost all the way down the mountain we stopped at a roadside inn for breakfast. The eggs Benedict and hash browns were yummy and just perfect. With nothing specific planned for the rest of the day, we were taking it easy and stopping at all possible spots. Spotted at least 4 hump backs right from the shore on one such stop and explored another part of the island which we hadn't previously planned.The top was down on the Mustang and it was an amazingly beautiful day. Tummies full with the yummy stuff and hearts full of all the beauty we were off for an afternoon siesta.
Act 2 of the day was short and sweet and began late in the afternoon at around 4. We headed straight to a beach. Weren't too enthusiastic to take a dip so after a few minutes of wading we were off to the Front Street. Front street here is like the mall road of our Indian hill stations. Full of shops and eating places. We decided to stick to the chains and opted for the Hard Rock Cafe. Also caught a glimpse of a beautiful sunset over the pacific.
Thats was curtains on day 4. Snap count 400 and add to that at least 6 video recordings for the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment