The island of Maui is made of two ancient volcanies that rose up out of the sea and more or less melted into one another. The bigger of these volcanoes is Haleakala, which means "House of the sun." It is, without question, the most breathtaking place I've ever walked through. I thought this in 1995, when Uzee and I first hiked there, and I thought this again last month, when we revisted the place.
These pictures are laughable in their attempt to convey Haleakala's scale and sheer otherworldly weirdness. This is the only volcano crater I've ever been in, and the colors, the erosion and the size of it all--it's I think twelve miles down to the bottom--are just staggering.
When I die, I would like my ashes scattered here.
