Haleakala crater trail, Maui, Hawaii

Haleakala (lit. House of the Sun) on Maui is one of Hawaii's youngest volcanoes (750,000 years) still considered active, having last erupted in 1790. The summit is 10,023 feet (3,000 meters) in elevation. The crater is 3000ft. deep, and covers and area of 7.5 miles x 2.5 miles. Because of its barren terrain and "lunar landscape" American astronauts trained here prior to making their epic voyage to the moon. The hiking trail across the crater is 11 miles long and traverses some amazing scenery from the dry alpine zone at the summit past red, yellow and grey cinder cones and black lava flows. It then descends through the lush rainforest and ferns of Kaupo Gap, a large stream-cut canyon on the souhteastern side partly filled in by lava flows, where it is often raining or dripping with mist (annual rainfall here is 250"/630cm), to emerge at the refreshing pools of Kipahulu on the south-eastern coast of the island. This image shows the start of the trail from the summit road looking down onto the solidified bla...