Over the last decade+ I hiked, ran, camped, backpacked, worked and played all over Haleakala. Sometimes it was on designated trails, with the day ending in a cozy NPS cabin filled with friends. Other times I was helicoptered to remote ridge lines where I was alone with a soggy tent and days of wet boots. Needless to say, this place holds a special place in my heart, so when an opportunity came to return to the islands, the magical back side of Haleakala was calling. This FKT was a decade in the making.
From a trail perspective, the first 8.5 miles (from the “sea” to Paliku cabin) has not had any trail maintenance in over 7 years. A couple years ago, I reached out to the NPS to see if they had plans to do any work and I received an unofficial response that they didn’t have funding at this time. It really is such a bummer since this trail is the crown jewel of the islands. The various FKT’s submitted over the years are filled with increasing complaints of the degrading trail conditions. Needless to say, it has only been getting worse since the last woman’s FKT submittal in 2019. The overhead cane grass has now been overtaken by walls of invasive lantana, making miles 2-3 a gauntlet of bush whacking and a guarantee your entire body will be covered in thousands of micro slices by the end of the adventure.
But back to the journey…After an early morning drive to the backside of Haleakala, I arrived at Huialoha church, parked at a nearby pullout and started my FKT attempt by touching the ocean just after 6am. I charged the first two miles on the road and took note the entire day of where I would actually be able to run down on my return. Just at the ranch boundary, the wall of prickly lantana began. I tried not to loose heart and slowly picked my way through the bramble with my phone GPS in hand. Eventually I made it back to the ranch road where the trail then follows a steep uphill covered with ball bearing size lava rocks, this was going to make an interesting return down.
I arrived at the park boundary (~6miles and was met with waist deep grasses with no real trail to follow. Again, I picked my way, with purpose, up mountain and arrived at Paliku cabin junction (~9.2miles) in ~3hrs 19min. This was much slower than I expected and realized I was really going need to claw back some time in the next 9.5 miles to the summit. I was able to run/power hike most of the way to Kapalaoa cabin, where a sketchy water supply was available behind the cabin. I had a quick turn around and headed off to zig zag up sliding sands trail.
I made to the summit in ~6hrs and was very unsure if this FKT was still within grasp. I charged back down sliding sands - all very runnable - to Kapalaoa cabin. Grabbed some more sketch water and covered the taste with more Tropical Gu Roctane. Passing back by Paliku Cabin junction at ~7hrs 28min. I wasn’t sure I would be able to make any time on this next section of the downhill. The tall grass really left it to fate whether you would roll an ankle on a mystery object underneath or simply have a cushiony landing. I proceeded with what can only be explained as a Gumby downhill trot, luckily there is no video footage of this unique technique. Through the tall grasses, down the ball bearing steep ranch road and straight back to the wall the invasive species. When I hit the road again for the last two miles, I pulled out my best marathon pace…well the best you can do after charging 35 miles :)
I jumped into the ocean ~4:15pm and just nabbed this Woman’s Unsupported FKT in a time of 10:13:51. I ended my day with a sunset drive along the coast and tucked myself into a comfy bed. Maui no ka oi!