In May of 2011 three friends and I hiked the Haleakala backcountry cabin route on Maui. We had spent one night at Hosmer Grove car camp and then had a friend help us shuttle our car to our exit point at Halemau’u Trailhead. This route includes three nice cabins that are spaced an easy day’s backpack apart from each other. They must be reserved well in advance. This photo shows the view from the top of Haleakala, looking toward where we were headed on our hike.
We took the Sliding Sands trail on the way in. This is a beautiful hike, but there is no shade at all. Normally we would have launched very early on this hike, but the National Park Service requires overnight visitors to view an informational film before entering, so we launched a little later than normal. It’s very easy to see where you are headed with this trail.
This is the only shade we found on the first day. And yes, we are having fun.
We ran into this guy at the shade tree. It is a Chukar Partridge and one of only two types of bird that we found in the park.
The first cabin we stayed at was Kapalaoa Cabin. This is the obvious first choice for a cabin when launching from Sliding Sands. We arrived pretty early in the day and found the cabin to be really nice, much better than we had expected.
The Nene, or Hawaiian Goose, were waiting for us at Kapalaoa Cabin.
The cabin was very plush. Twelve bunks total, with very nice, thick foam mattresses on each bunk. A large dining table with benches, and a kitchen with running water and a large cast iron stove / heater. There was an assortment of kitchen equipment, pots and pans and such. Behind the cabin was a freshwater shower.
I prefer to sleep outside whenever the weather allows for it. I moved one of the nice foam mattresses out to a picnic table and had a very comfy bed. On this outing I had my iPhone and some nice in-ear monitors, and I listened to Dark Side of the Moon while watching for shooting stars. The night sky in this area is incredible. The night sounds of Haleakala are also interesting — a total, windless silence punctuated by very loud bird sounds. This made sleeping a challenge. Those clouds rolling over the mountain in the distance are where our third cabin — Paliku — was located.
Referring to the Haleakala Trail Map shows that the next logical cabin for us to visit would be Paliku, however we were not able to book that one. Instead we had booked Holoa Cabin and then Paliku Cabin. This meant a little backtracking on our final day. The trail to Holua Cabin was stunning though. The central section of the Haleakala lava field is incredibly colorful.
This lava tube is near Holua cabin and can be a little hard to find.
Like Kapalaoa cabin, Holua cabin is located at the base of some cliffs where there is a supply of rain water.
Leaving Holua for Paliku cabin, the surroundings finally start to get lush. The change in scenery is very dramatic, from the shadeless, almost barren lava fields to the tropical greenery around Paliku cabin.
After arriving at Paliku we did a day hike up the ridge behind the cabin. The views extend out over the entire valley of lava. In this photo, directly behind us where the ocean is visible is a trail that leads all the way to the coast. This is the Kaupo Trail and it looks very difficult to me. The people that stayed in Paliku cabin the night before us headed down this route.
A small memorial to a father had been set up on the ridge. In the background you can see the trail we had hiked in on.
Paliku’s location was totally different than the other two cabins. More of a jungle feel, more humidity, and lots of low cloud activity. There was actually a park service employee mowing the front lawn when we arrived! The ridge behind the cabin sometimes has a “cloud waterfall”.
This park was not very crowded when we were there (in May of 2011). In fact we did not see any other people other than the one group we had replaced at Paliku. It is a very large, open, beautiful space.
The hike back from Paliku to Holua cabin, and then up and out to Halemau’u Trailhead was difficult. Without the backtracking it would have been much easier. Even with the difficulty though it was a fantastic day.
In this photo, the switchbacks are clearly visible. This was the end of our Haleakala adventure.