Haleakala is a great volcano, 33 miles long and 10,025 feet high. During a long period of inactivity, stream erosion cut two deep valleys, Keanae and Kaupo, into its sides. These joined near the summit. When volcanic activity once again resumed, flows of aa and blankets of cinders were spread on the valley floors. A multicolored cover, emphasized by symmetrical cones, formed the new floor of the depression, now loosely called Haleakala Crater.

The well chosen name, Hale-a-ka-la, means House of the Sun. Old Hawaiians associated Maui, a trickster demi-God, with the mountain. He was a legendary figure throughout Polynesia long before a few of its inhabitants discovered and settled in Hawaii, bringing their gods with them.

How Maui brought down or ensnared the sun has several versions. Maui’s mother, Hina, had trouble drying bark cloth, kapa, because the day was too short, its warmth insufficient. The sun just sped too fast across the sky. So Maui fashioned a strong net to snare it in its course. A slight variant, possibly less used, appeals more strongly. In early dawn, one can watch strong streamers of light from the rising sun break through the clouds and stalk across the crater. With these spidery legs the sun progresses through the heavens. As one by one they were placed over Koolau Gap, Maui seized them and bound them with strong thongs to an ohia tree. Thus captured, the sun pleaded for release. This Maui granted on promise of a slower gait, for which Hina as well as the rest of us can be eternally thankful.