"House of the Sun" - Haleakala Summit, Maui, Hawaii

 

The summit of Haleakala Volcano rises 10,023 feet above sea level on the Hawaiian island of Maui. It is said, viewing the sunrise at Haleakala Summit is "most memorable" and a somewhat spiritual experience. As a nature photographer, I was thrilled to capture the spectacular sunrise at Haleakala Summit.

Arriving at Haleakala Summit more than a half hour before sunrise, the large parking lot was already almost full! Hundreds of people were already standing and waiting at the edge of the crater where the sun was supposed to come out... The cold gusty winds was blowing across the arid volcanic crater, and the tourists were shivering in hotel blankets... I was wearing Alaskan winter clothing which I wore from home to the airport. The sky was still dark with millions of stars.

When I set up the camera gear at the edge of crater, the sky was starting to get lighter. The ocean of clouds were spread beyond the crater... The reddish volcanic rocks were mysterious purple under the light of dawn. A  group of Hawaiian women chanted in their local language as the sun continued to rise. "House of the Sun" in Hawaiian language, Haleakala is an ancient sacred place for Volcano goddess, Pele.

 

The sky slowly lightened up above the cold, windy crater... The background chanting keep going... Finally, the bright sun came out above the clouds. The sky was reddish orange!

As sun goes up, the warm light painted the crater in golden orange. Now the volcano landscape comes alive. The crater and volcanic cones. The colors of the landscape and sky changed every moment!

The sunrise was dramatic but quick... and COLD. The endangered Hawaiian bird: Nene were hanging around in the lower elevation in the park.

Here are Haleakala Summit sunset from the night before... Sunset behind the Observatory.

Flaming clouds at Summit area at sunset. 

 

Another sunrise over Haleakala. Sunrise rays above the Haleakala Summit, viewed from the ocean.

Spiritual Path in Maui - Haleakala National Park, Hawaii

Last December, I explored the natural beauties of the Island of Maui, Hawaii. In photographing Hawaii, I am especially fascinated with the tropical rainforests and waterfalls. Driving through the town of Hana, the tropical green landscapes continued through to the southeast part of the island. As part of the Haleakala National Park system, the Kipahulu area is a real gem; breathtaking waterfalls, natural pools, bamboo forests, and coastal views.

 

Wailua Falls, full of water after a heavy rainfall.

 



'Ohe'o Gulch ("Seven Sacred Pools") waterfalls cascading down volcanic cliffs with tropical vegetation down to the coast.

Maui is home to bamboo... a large part of East Maui is covered with bamboo forest! The trail in this part of Haleakala Park begins with typical jungle images with banyan trees and thick greens... A creek cascading down creates some waterfalls along the trail. As I climbed higher and crossed several bridges, the vegetation changes to bamboo. The bamboo forest gets thicker and thicker... almost completely blocking out sunlight. The trail gets even darker at mid day. The breeze and rain blows the tightly packed bamboo and creates clacking sounds in dim green colors. Sounds of water streams are mixed in.

Capturing this atmosphere, I had to set the shutter speed for 13-15 seconds with tripod in the low light. The wind swing the thin green stalks... It was hard to get sharp images.

Walking through the bamboo forest in rain was somewhat a spiritual experience... I had never felt this way when I was back in Japan among the bamboo forests there. "Zen" mind experience!?

Passing the bamboo, the tall trees took over the trail. Through an opening through trees, waterfalls on the green cliff could be seen...

Waimoku Falls dropped off a vertical cliff of 400 feet! Such an amazing end to the trail!

For the next posting, I will post some sunrise and sunset photos at Mount Haleakala Summit in Maui, Hawaii. Please check back in 2 weeks!

 

Tropical Green Paradise, East Maui, Hawaii

The East side of Maui offers dramatic landscapes that photographer’s dream of: lush rainforests, waterfalls, and secluded beaches. Greens and waterfalls are always my favorite subjects to photograph in Hawaii.

In December, I flew to Maui for another photo project. It is always good to take a break from the cold, dark winter in Alaska. However, unexpected storms visited Hawaii for weeks in December and instead of sunny tropical weather we got rained on almost every day.

"The Road to Hana," was one of the highlights of this Maui trip with the lush tropical forest and countless waterfalls along the highway. Driving through the scenic coastal highway in drizzling rain. The trails to the waterfalls were wet and muddy after many rainy days. The good news was the waterfalls were fully cascading through the mossy greens. Gorgeous volume of water for photography!

Upper Waikani Falls (Three Bears Falls)

Makapipi Falls vertically drops down under the bridge along the road (left). Artesian Falls cascading down to the coast.

Near the end of the highway, a volcanic black sand beach lays on the quiet corner of Maui. I was waiting for sunrise on the high cliff in misty rain. The weather changed every few minutes... The orange light broke through the clouds and it painted the dark sands purple! Soon the lights were blocked and rain took over the cove.

A short while later, the sun came out again and the golden light lit through the sea cave. The sun beat out the clouds for most of the day.
 

There is also the Red Sand Beach near the town of Hana. The beach was bright red under the sunshine. The Hawaiian nature is full of surprises!

On my next posting, I will share some photos of Seven Sacred Pools and the bamboo forest in Haleakala National Park, East Maui. Please check back.



French Alps

 

I have been writing about the highest mountain in the Alps: Mont Blanc, and the trail around the mountain for past several updates. I completed hiking the entire Tour du Mont Blanc trail 110+ miles in July 2014 with camera gear while photographing the spectacular landscape.

 

At the end of this story, I'm sharing more images of the Chamonix, France area. I stayed a few days in Chamonix, near the starting point of the journey of Tour du Mont Blanc, before and after the long hike.

 

The Flégère to Lac Blanc area, a high mountain range directly across from Mont Blanc Massif, is one of the most scenic landscapes that photographers could ever dream of. 

I could easily spend several days to just explore and capture the deep green alpine lakes, streams, and the front view of Mont Blanc.  The weather wasn't cooperative during sunset/sunrise, here are the some sunshine moments at Lac Blanc.

Reflection of Mont Blanc Range on Lac Flégère.

Alpen Rose's vivid pink flowers stand out in the Alps.

 

Chamonix area offers so many amazing view spots with easy access via public transportation. Mer de Glace, the longest glacier in France.

Bossons Glacier, the ice-fall directly down from Mont Blanc.  I just loved these colors!

Lac Bleu in the fog...  One of the many alpine lakes in Mont Blanc Massif.

Well, that's all from the European Alps.  I will add some images on my main website soon.

On my next blog, I will update some new images from Hawaii.  Please check back.

 

Tour du Mont Blanc #6 Trient, Switzerland – Les Houches, France (European Alps)

 

Leaving the small Swiss village of Trient in the early morning sunshine, I climbed up through the woods as the trail continued to an open meadow with wildflowers. The highest point of the wildflower hill, Col de Balme, (Balme Pass, 2,195m, 7,201 ft) is on the Swiss – French border above Chamonix Valley. My journey along the Tour du Mont Blanc trail 110+ mile (170 km) was approaching the end. I could see, in the distance, the picturesque mountain hut on the pass among the flower field. As I climbed higher, the massive Mont Blanc showed up again after a long absence!

I admired the white peaks of Mont Blanc at Col de Balme for quite some time… 

Unfortunately, the clouds over Chamonix Valley got thicker and darker so I packed up and got going, crossing the border back into France once again and it was all downhill through a flowery hill. The sky was overcast as I made it to the mountain refuge at Tre-le-Champ, a tiny village north of Chamonix, France for the night.

The last part of Tour du Mont Blanc trail was supposed to have the most spectacular views of Mont Blanc.  The trail climbs up high into the mountains across Chamonix Valley, and continues parallel to the Mont Blanc Range – the front view of Mont Blanc for the next few days… 

However, it was raining during the night, and it started raining again when I hiked up the steep trail through the woods.  When the trail opened up to the rocky terrain and approached the famous metal ladder on the vertical cliff, the rain got serious.  I had to climb up the sets of slippery metal ladders in drenching rain with a heavy pack.  If I slipped and fell, I would fall several vertical feet!  I was careful climbing up one step at the time… 

 

Strangely, I felt someone’s eyes on my back! An ibex (a kind of mountain goat that lives in the Alps) was hanging on the cliff at my eye level only several feet away! He was staring at me with his big round eyes! We were looking at each other, eye to eye for a moment. It was a great opportunity to capture him up close… but I was hanging onto the ladder on the cliff, there was no way to take my camera out from the backpack… I snapped a few shots with my point-to-shoot which was in my pocket. So, this image of ibex is not as good quality of my other images, but hey that was the best I could do.

After negotiating the rock walls with some ladders, I came up to the higher rocky trail… It was raining hard all the way to the mountain refuge for the night… and the next 2 days were non-stop rain…This last section of trail was supposed to be the most scenic view of Mont Blanc, and I planned to spend an extra day in order to photograph the front view of Mont Blanc at sunset. However, clouds and fog filled Chamonix Valley, and Mont Blanc hid behind it. I just had to finish my journey in the miserable cold rain…The image above is the last view of Mont Blanc before serious weather moved in…

The Chamonix town below...

 



Here are the ruins along the trail… Due to bad visibility, I missed a turn and took a wrong trail for 2 miles… an extra 4 miles round trip in the rain wasn’t fun with a heavy pack.

Day 15 of my Tour du Mont Blanc journey, I made it back to Les Houches, France (South of Chamonix) where I started.  I completed an entire 110+ miles (170 km)! 

Back to Chamonix the next day and the sun came out.

A church in Chamonix.

The evening before leaving Chamonix, beautiful sunset glow on the clouds over Mont Blanc and the glacier…

I'll post some more photos from Mont Blanc area on next update.  Please check back!

Tour du Mont Blanc #5 Champex - Trient, Switerland (European Alps)

 

I had been hiking the European Alps for a photo project in July 2014. Unfortunately, the first 3 days were miserable with rain and a surprising snow fall on the mountain pass... Crossing the French - Italian border, then into Switzerland, I photographed spectacular scenery along the Tour du Mont Blanc trail (110+ miles, 170km trail, which circles around the highest peak in the Alps; Mont Blanc).

 

Continuing from the last update, I left a beautiful alpine lake at Champex, Switzerland in the morning. This section would be the climax of the Tour du Mont Blanc trail which reaches the highest point of the entire trail with a steep mountain pass "Fenêtre d’Arpette" 8,743 ft (2,665 m).

 

Starting with a beautiful cotton grass meadow under a perfect blue sky...

 

Surrounded by high mountains, the trail ascends to the higher pass while looking down the Arpette Valley down below...

The easy part was over, followed by serious treacherous climbing... First, crossing through jumbles of boulders, followed by a slippery slope with small loose stones on all fours! My 30+ pound camera gear pack slowed me down... The highest point, Fenêtre d’Arpette towers up with an unbelievably steep angle! I doubted my ability to climb the trail up with the heavy pack on my back... This was supposed to be hiking NOT rock climbing! I wish I could post images of the pass but I didn't feel safe to set up the camera on the trail.

At least the slippery scree part was over, and a steep trail continued until reaching the pass... I just wanted to get to the pass, so I kept climbing...

Finally, I made it to the narrow rocky ridge of Fenêtre d’Arpette!

 

Looking down the Arpette Valley below, the trail I just came from was seriously steep. Many hikers rested on the narrow ridge. Some of them hiked up from the other side of the pass. We all met at the midpoint in the middle of the day. At last, I was able to set up the camera and captured the steep pass below...

Making it to the pass wasn't the end. Climbing to the top only meant I would have to climb down the other side...the trail was also very steep and slippery with sandy rocks. Trient Glacier cascaded down along the trail while more wildflowers cerebrated in the afternoon sun along the way.

The toughest 9 miles (about 14 km) was finally completed and some hikers jumped into the glacier melt river to cool off. I made it to the small village of Trient and settled in for the night. The stunning pink church located in the center of the village. When I first saw the picture of this church while researching the trip, I immediately planned to photograph it at sunset or sunrise, whichever offered better lighting, and crossed my fingers to have nice weather. My wish was granted, it looked like a great sunset that evening. I dragged my beaten up knees to search for the best spot before sunset, and set the camera up. When the sun lowered on the horizon a warm orange light glowed on the glacier covered peak above the church. That was perfect!

This story will continue on the next blog... Please check back!