Michael Y. from San Jose, CA is a JERK.

Our first ever Haleakala sunrise was amazing. Seeing the sunrise above the clouds while walking around what feels like Mars, in mind-numbing cold temperatures during even more mind-numbing early morning hours was a wonderful experience. Definitely a five-star-on Yelp experience.

We decided on short notice to make the trek to the summit of Haleakala, the volcano we live at the base of. The night before our trip I worked until 9:30pm and when I got home we started to think that it would be near insane to wake up at 2:40am. We thought we should be more prepared, but in the end, we bit the bullet. We were asleep around midnight and surprisingly enough were able to wake up in just a few hours. We left the house in total darkness, except for the full moon, and went to pickup our friends. After a pitstop to feed Skunky and another pitstop to meet some new friends vacationing from Chicago, we were all on our way.

As we drove up the winding roads, the temperature gradually started to drop. Once we reached the top, it was just over 30 degrees. Thankfully Cheya brought some extra jackets, because wearing every long sleeved and long pant-legged articles of clothing we owned, we were still numb after just a few minutes of being subjected to that very familiar feeling of cold. I really don’t miss that feeling at all.

Wrapped up in blankets and borrowed jackets and every layer of clothing we could possibly fit onto our bodies, we waited for the main event. The sky gradually changed from a star-filled deep blue to yellow to orange and pink, and as that bright sliver of light came up above the waterfall-like clouds pouring over the opposite side of the crater, we knew that even with the lack of sleep and the uncontrollable shivering, this was worth it. It’s hard to describe, but seeing the sunrise as the moon set behind us, all while standing above the clouds in such a beautiful place had put me in a beautiful place. Yeah, you can stop making fun of me now. It was a great experience, OK?

Yeah, and Michael Y. from San Jose, CA gave his Haleakala experience TWO stars on Yelp. Two! It is Haleakala National Park’s only two star review. JERK.

OH! And we saw a giant double rainbow on the way home. The bottom rainbow was the brightest I had ever seen, it looked like giant neon tubes bent across the sky.