We saw a lot of people biking down and even two people crouched down zooming by on skateboards. They were going about as fast as the cars. We thought the skaters were crazy until we saw the people riding bikes UP THE ROAD.
We finally got to the top and met our tour guide, Ra. The trail was pretty easy and the scenery was beautiful.
There were so many different colors and you could actually see the last three cinder cones where lava had spouted.
We learned the summit used to be 12,000 feet and the crater floor used to be 1,000 feet deeper. But erosion and other geologic events have drastically changed it. We also saw a bunch of silverswords, a small plant that only grows in the crater.
Lunch was on the crater floor and then we headed back up. By the way, I'm very glad we chose the horseback ride. We saw people hiking down to the bottom, but I would still be down there if we had gone on foot.
Chris' horse was Big Boy and mine was Lucy. They were both very good the whole time. Big Boy had one pace, and that was slow and plodding. Lucy wanted to trot a little on the way back, but sadly Big Boy was in her way.
The trail ride and drive up/down the mountain took most of the day so we grabbed a quick plate-lunch dinner in the Rainbow Mall in Kihei and then made it back to the hotel beach to watch the sunset.
There were cute little crabs that came out at sunset as the tide came back up. I guess they bury themselves in the sand all day and then in the evening you start to see little holes where they have dug themselves out. However, they are VERY skittish and don't appreciate at all when you step on the sand anywhere near them. They scuttled back to their little holes very quickly. I managed a couple pictures though.
After sunset, we spent some time in the hot tub and then turned in.
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