Altitude Sickness and Wind Farm Hike II

Ocean and Haleakala view from the low high point of my hike

 Thursday, Dec. 20: Only after a visit to a Minit Medical clinic the next day did I realize I made this hike while suffering altitude sickness. Even as I write this at 6 p.m. Dec. 21, two hours before Tracy and Shira touch down in Maui, my lips are again tingling from the effects of hiking Haleakala three days earlier. But at the time I blamed the heat and not enough rest to explain why I was only able to ascend between 350 and 400 feet up the more gentle end of the Lahaina Pali trail in a quest to reach the high point of the hike or at least to get a glimpse of the windmills snaking up the hillside.

I turned on Map My Hike software when I gave up and descended, and it claims my descent was 0.89 miles. But that was only a small portion of the exertion. I took a wrong turn when I started the hike, and followed an old road all the way to the turnout that said I was hiking on private property. That was almost to the point where the road curved westward, and it was more than a mile back to the starting point, if you gauge distances according to the 0.89-mile track on the Map My Hike image below.

Distant satellite view of the area, showing the hike and water on both sides of the peninsula

So I was already spent when I returned to the car, devoured a sandwich, talked to some other hikers, and vowed to try again, this time turning leftward uphill instead of following a steady route south.

The correct route turned right and uphill.

This was the region where the wind mills climbed the southern ridge.

The black figures are the shadows of the mills.

I still plan to make this hike, when I'm recovered. These mills are about 200 feet tall or more and I want to cross their path.

Statistics for the day:

Distance: 4 miles
Elevation gain: 350 feet 
Conditions: Hot, probably at least 80 degrees, under bright sun with uneven, difficult rocky path.
Load: Negligible: Cameras and water.

Statistics, year to date:

Distance: 1509.5 miles

Elevation gain: 64,793 feet; 6,912 feet to fifth Rainier