Journeys›Photograph

A January Week Above Maui

·#winter#sunset#landscape#ocean#aerial-photography
Aerial view of a coastal town with a harbor, beach, wetlands, and green mountains under a cloudy sky.

Middle of a January week on Maui, and today was the flight. Up out of Kahului with the harbor and the breakwater falling away, then straight at the West Maui mountains, which from the ground look like one green wall and from a few hundred feet up turn out to be all ridges — knife-edge spines with valleys dropping off both sides, trees hanging on where there's barely anything to hang on to.

Then across to Haleakala. The crater goes on far longer than I expected, cinder cones in rust and gray scattered down its whole length, clouds stacked up against the rim on the windward side. Coming down the Hana side we dropped past a gorge with waterfalls strung one below the other, four or five of them in a single crease of the mountain, no road anywhere near.

Back on the ground with the afternoon left over, we ended it on the south shore. Sun went down over Kaho'olawe with the little crescent of Molokini sitting out in the channel, and a couple was getting married on the rocks just down the beach.

An aerial view of a green mountainous coastline with a town, fields, and deep blue ocean with waves.Aerial view of a long coastline with a city, mountains, and ocean, under a partly cloudy sky.Lush green mountains with steep forested slopes and a small cave opening on a rocky cliff face.Aerial view of a vast volcanic landscape with reddish cinder cones, dark ground, and distant ocean under a blue sky.Aerial view from above white clouds, showing green land, a coastline, and dark blue ocean under a blue sky.An aerial view shows a dense green forest covering mountains, with two waterfalls flowing into a deep valley.A vibrant sunset over a calm ocean, silhouetting distant land, palm trees, rocks, and two people on the shore.Silhouetted palm tree and rocky shore frame a sunset over the ocean with a bright sun on the horizon.

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