Sacred Sites, Sacred Travel
by Cheryl Bruedigam
Searching for Paradise ? You will have to travel a good distance to
get to it but it is well worth the time.
Where? To the top of Haleakala Crater .
Located on the east side of the island of Maui, in the Hawaiian Islands,
Haleakala Crater rises 10,023 feet above sea level below and was aptly named
the House of the Sun by early Hawaiians though it could just as easily be
called Holy Akala because it is indeed a most sacred and magical site, highly
important the Hawaiian religious beliefs.
The crater is approximately seven miles across, two miles
wide and twenty-six hundred feet deep.
It is an amazing sight and feeling to stand on the very top, looking both
down to the depths below and out to the horizon beyond surrounded by nothing
but pristine Pacific ocean for as far as the
eye can see. One does truly feel that
one has reached the ends of the earth (or perhaps the beginning of Earth).
My trip began with a morning at the beach followed by a
drive up to Haleakala. An unsuspecting
tourist, after my morning at the beach, I was clad only in a bikini and a towel
for a wrap. As our rental car made the
climb to the summit, the temperature began to drop lower and lower. Though down below we knew that on that August
day, it was a lovely, if not overly warm in-the-nineties day on the beach. Not so on the road to Haleakala. Higher we climbed. And definitely not so at
the top. So traveler be warned, if you plan
to venture up, throw something long sleeve or long legged at least in the car,
though I can assure you it is the only time in Hawaii that you will need it, or just brave
the cold in your skivvies.
Our arrival at the top was greeted by a lone but very friendly,
park ranger. He quickly gave us our
guidelines and as many know, at 9,740 feet, the Haleakala Visitor
Center Haleakala Crater ;
feeling both special and isolated, yet completely connected to all that is.
Whether you stay in Hana, Lahina, Kahana or anywhere else on
the island, with a visit to Haleakala, your visit to Maui
will become even more magical and will be an experience that will remain with
you always.
Cheryl Yale Bruedigam, publisher of Aloha Body Mind and Soul, author, has been writin for forty years. With undergraduate studies in English and women's studies, she devoted over a decade of research and writing to women’s studies and faith.
Bruedigam also published a national travel site and worked in hospitality and travel management for decades. She has lived on the Island of Oahu.
