I was headed up to Haleakala, the highest mountain on the island of Maui. Its summit reaches up to 10,023’, but is drivable. If I had more time, I would rather hike to the summit, but I had a drop-top Jeep and was looking forward to the long drive up a mountain with the cool mountain air blowing through my hair.
I hit the road around 2 pm and began the two-hour drive across the island up to the top of the summit. The drive started out at sea-level. The tropical sun warmed everything and island life thrived all around me. As I approached the behemoth of Haleakala, I stopped in awe of its massiveness. While wide at its base, its peak rose up past the clouds and towered into the skies above. I pushed down on the accelerator and started speeding toward the summit.
Tonight was the rising of the Super Blood Wolf Moon. I wanted to get some photos and spend some time on the top of the mountain.
In case you didn’t know, Super Blood Wolf Moon means the following:
Super: When the moon is closest on its orbit to the Earth.
Blood: When the Earth passes between the sun and the moon and turns the moon blood red for a few minutes.
Wolf: The first full moon of the new year. This was noted in Native American history because the wolves would howl loudest on this full moon.
Moon: The moon. It orbits the earth every day.
It wasn’t long before I was well on my way up the trail to the summit of Haleakala. Initially it was a thriving jungle of Banyan trees with fresh-water streams cutting through their thick, intertwining roots. As I drove higher, the trees began to get smaller and the air thinner. What was once thick ocean air, tasting of salt, slowly cooled to a dry mountain air, fresh with a mint and higher-elevation pine needles. I looked above me and stared at the clouds that wrapped like a blanket over the middle of the mountain at 7,000’.
I drove on up the twisting mountain trail. It was narrow and sharp drop-offs of a thousand or more feet were at every turn. I had another 20 miles up this remote highway before I reached the summit.
Just above the cloud line ~7,000’.
Five miles later and I was above the cloud line. I had to stop for a moment and look at the horizon. It isn’t often one can stand on the ground and stare off into infinity above the surrounding clouds. I took in the horizon. The clouds beneath me, the sun on my face, the wind blowing across the top of the clouds, cooling my face, the taste of the air on the tip of my tongue as I breathed in the thin mountain air; this was a moment.
The road continued up the mountain. As I continued further, the grassy hills turned into a rough, red volcanic rock. I felt like I was ascending a mountain on Mars. Finally, after 18 miles, I reached the National Park entrance.
Because there was a US government shutdown, no one was manning the park station. Cars breezed past the entrance that would normally require a week-ahead reservation and some $20 for entry. I blew past the darkened guard shack and continued on toward the summit.
About 30 minutes later, I was on the crest of the summit. Cars were lined up in a long caravan that stretched on for a half mile. I eeked along slowly and enjoyed the radio. While the line dragged on, I approached the blocked entrance to drive up the summit. As soon as I reached the turn-off to drive to the summit, divine influence decided to shine on me. A park ranger, working without pay, opened up the gate to the summit. I was the first to turn in and was languidly waved on toward the summit.
I passed innumerable people hiking up to the top of the mountain in my Jeep. As I blew past them; old ladies in walkers, sweating 50-year-old men breathing heavily as they hoofed up the mile-long steep road huffed and puffed while I put my car into second gear and blew up the rest of the road.
Summit of Haleakala, overlooking the crater.
I arrived at the summit and found the one remaining parking place. After getting out, I looked over the crowd. The mountain was packed. A dozen dozen people were gathered on the top of the mountain waiting for the sun to set and the moon to rise. Professional photographers lined up east, waiting for the supermoon to rise. Families and tourists lined up on the west, waiting for the sun to set.
I sat in the car. Finishing up a sandwich, listening to old blues on the radio. I’ve been to several eclipses before and the best part is the crowd. Tourists, adventurers, astronomers, photographers, and dirty ol’ salty dogs like myself; we were all here.
The sun set below the clouds, painting the horizon with a rainbow of deep colors, painting the clouds below in pastel pinks that bled into dark purples as the sun dipped into its evening slumber.
But as the sun dipped below the horizon, the eclipsing moon began to rise. It started out slowly, rising just above the shadow of the tip of the Haleakala mountain. I watched as the calm eclipsed moon, a crescent rising above a blown-out crater, slowly began to rise into the night sky. As each minute passed, the moon began to slowly turn a darker shade of red. The darkness of the night beginning to engulf the moon as the sun finally dipped below the horizon.
Then it happened. Totality. The fullness of the moon turned a dark shade of bloody red. As if wrapped in a red blanket, our nightly shining beacon turned dark. Howls erupted from the crowds around me. Three hundred people sitting on the top of the mountain began to scream at the top of their lungs, pulled in by the spirit of the Wolf Moon. The howling continued until I left.
Having finished the photos for the night, I was ready to call it a night. I was going to stay up on the mountain for the night and reconnect with Mama Pacha, the earth spirit from the Incan religion. I drove down the twisting mountain trail about ten miles in the pitch black of night to the only camping site on the mountain.
I arrived there and there was no room at the main campground. On a night like tonight there are too many people that come to an astrological event like a super blood wolf moon. Upon seeing the campsite, I decided to pull off on a side road and park my car in the shadows of the mountain’s shade. I walked out of my car and looked up to the sky.
I have seen a lot of night skies in my life. I’ve seen the southern cross in the middle of the pacific at midnight. I’ve slept under the stars on top of mountains in Colorado and watched as the Milky Way drifted by. I’ve seen the Arora Borealis explode over my driveway in Anchorage, Alaska as a young boy. But this night. This night was special. The stars lit up in the sky in all of their glory. I couldn’t help myself, but while cooking my dinner on my camp stove, I had to lay back into the soft grass and stare up at the infiniteness of the universe. Staring into the stars, you realize just how small and insignificant you are, but at the same time, how precious every moment of the gift of life is.
I forgot to mention one little aspect of this perfection of a natural experience. Just across the road, maybe 20 ft from my tent, were a crowd of 20-some-odd teenagers. Now these teenagers were quintessentially teenage stereotypes. There were maybe 15 cars crowded together. They were slamming beers, smoking weed, snorting cocaine and banging the loudest music possible in the midst of this mountain. It was a party that had no end in sight.
From my experience, I know how to deal with nearby teenage parties: shut up and shut down. The cops will show up at around 10 or 11 and I don’t want to deal with that. I ate my dinner, drank three beers while I read my book and went to bed. Timing: 9:00.
Midnight.
A bright light shined across my tent. I ignored it.
Someone shook my tent. I ignored it.
Someone put a couple rough boot kicks into my upper back.
I woke up.
“Who the f*** is kicking me?” I asked in a raspy, groggy voice.
“It’s the Park Ranger. Please exit your tent immediately sir.” The Park Ranger yelled in an aggressive voice.
“Just give me a ticket and I’ll deal with it tomorrow. I’m sleeping,” I said.
“I will give you a ticket and make you leave,” the Park Ranger said, “Get out of the tent.”
I breathed heavy. It was midnight. I thought of sunrise.
“Ugh. Let me put on my pants. I’ll be right out,” I said as I put on my pants.
I climbed out of the tent to two different flashlights shining into my face as I stood up to the two Park Rangers that were waiting. I pulled my worn cap down so the lights wouldn’t shine directly in my eyes and stood up.
“Sir, I am going to need you to take down your tent and vacate off of this mountain. You are in an unsanctioned camping area and must vacate the mountain immediately.” The Park Ranger barked at me.
It was a 7,000’ vertical drop from my location to the ocean and almost 20 miles of road that twisted past 1000’ drops a mere feet from the asphalt. It was another 45 miles driving from the base of Haleakala to where I was staying on the west side of Maui. I wasn’t driving that tonight.
Groggily, I stood up out of my tent and faced the two flashlights.
“What do you want?” I asked, gruffly.
“Sir, I need you to vacate the mountain immediately. You are in an unsanctioned camping area and you must leave immediately.” The Park Ranger said.
That’s when I felt it. A fire began to build in my gut. The Blood Wolf began growing. I was not about to abandon my campsite because someone wanted to claim that nature had a boundary line. Especially when none of them were getting paid.
“Mr. Park Ranger,” I said calmly to the bright lights shining in my face, “let me ask you a question.”
“F*** your question. Get off my mountain before I arrest you and throw you in jail.” He responded.
“Sir. I understand your concern. I know you are trying to make sure your mountain is under control and those on it are following the rules you were sworn to protect. I also know that you haven’t been paid in a month and you are acting purely on the integrity you hold for your position. I respect that and I despise the position that was forced upon you.”
He stood still. I took a step forward and pushed the brim of my hat above my eyes so I could look into his.
“I understand that you have a job to do and I applaud that. I agree that you should re-direct these young kids to a common place to keep the peace between all the campers in this area. I think you have done a stand-up job handling this area.”
“And what?” He said a scowl curling over his teeth.
“Well sir, I am not causing any trouble at all. I was fast asleep and waiting on photo op for the sunrise at Haleakala summit. I don’t think that there is any reason for me to move from my current spot.”
“Are you questioning my authority?” He bellowed at me, his teeth grinding.
I could feel it. Anger. The desire for control. The plight of authority; it only exists if the public believes in it.
But I was pissed off.
“Look. Here’s what’s going to happen.” I said to him as I peered into the depth of his angry eyes. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed. I’m going to take photos of the sunrise on Haleakala tomorrow.”
His left eye twitched. I could feel the anger boiling inside of him.
“If you want to get me out of here, you are going to have to make some choices. If you want to call the cops, give them a call. In an hour and a half, I would be more than happy to go to jail. If you want to drag me out and beat me, you can drag me out and beat me. You make your own choice, Mr. Park Ranger, but I am getting back in my tent and I am going back to sleep. I’ll be waiting your decision.”
I raised the brim of my hat above my eyeline and met the Park Ranger’s eyes. I’ve been down some mean streets before, but I haven’t seen more anger in the meanest junkyard dog than I saw in this Park Ranger’s eyes. I looked for a minute, then glanced over at his partner. She was tired and not looking for a fight.
I went back into the tent and laid down into my sleeping bag. I heard the crunch of a boot on the rough volcanic rock move one step closer to my tent. I prepared for the beating.
“Let him be,” his partner said, “He’ll be out in the morning.”
There were no more words that night. Only the government vehicles backing out from the illegal campsite under the bright red moon.