Haleakala: from sea level to 10,000+ feet and back in a day

We left the dry side of the island in the early morning, and soon the road started climbing; the landscape changed from sugar cane fields to green pasture land, with sheep, cattle and horses. Once in Haleakala National Park, the road was one set of switchbacks after another. Our first stop was at a lookout and short trail with interpretive signs; before it became a park, cattle roamed, as well as sheep, goats and deer. Park workers spent 10 years putting up over 50 miles of fencing to keep out wandering animals and allow the vegetation to grow back.
The road continued to climb, with more hairpin turns, and the higher we went there were fewer plants and shrubs, and more and more rocks. I saw a ring necked pheasant beside the road; they were introduced as game birds.
By the time we got to the top we had on many layers of clothing; despite the sunshine, the wind made it cold. We went on a ranger walk on the Sliding Sands trail and learned many things: only insects live up that high - a flightless moth and wolf spiders that have lost the ability to spin webs -  they eat bugs that are blown in by the wind. A petrol bird nests in the lava rocks - it comes back to the same burrow every year to lay one egg - that's the only time it comes onto land.
We walked a ways further down the trail into the crater - it really did look like a lunar landscape - the walk back up was slower due to the altitude, which you really feel - rangers told us you get 30% less oxygen at that elevation. The guidebook says "the 37 mile drive from sea level to the 10,023' summit of Haleakala is the highest elevation gain in the shortest distance anywhere in the world."

The views from the top were amazing: the 7 mile wide crater, or eroding valley as it's called, the clouds, the light and colours on the rocks - it was all just stunning.
Photo by Nevin75 via flickr