#Plane brocken spectre tv
#Plane brocken spectre free

There were clouds below us in the crater (check). The overlook peers into a volcanic crater (to the left in this picture) which is large enough to fit the entire city of Manhattan. Haleakala is a little over 10,000 feet tall, but we parked near 8800 feet and walked the ¼ mile off the road to Leleiwi Overlook. You drive through it (in the form of dense fog) on the way up, and emerge above it around 7000 feet (though this varies daily).īeing above the cloud layer in bright sunshine–as your long shadow is cast into the thick fog layer below–gives you the opportunity to see the rainbow around your shadow. There is frequently a cloud layer between about 40 feet (you can almost always see it from pretty much anywhere on Maui). This is screenshot of the latter part of the drive: You also deal with quite a few hairpin turns as you continue to snake your way up the mountain. Around 3000 feet the temperature drops into the low 70s and you find yourself in a pine forest a lot like what we have back on the mainland.

You start at sea level where the temperature is in the high 80s or low 90s and drive past miles of oceanside with views of multiple other islands off in the distance.Īs you start up the mountain–which is essentially the entire eastern side of the island– you wind your way through several different climate zones.

So at our first real opportunity, we drove the two hours (one way) from West Maui up Haleakala to view the sunset, and check if conditions would lend themselves to seeing the Spectre of the Brocken. I knew Andrew (our 11 year old son) would remember it forever. And it’s something few other people in the world have seen. Coolest Thing Ever! (at least in the atmospheric phenomena department). The Brocken Spectre (also called Spectre of the Brocken) certainly wasn’t the only reason we were there, or the main reason, but truth be told, I really, really wanted to see it if possible.

#Plane brocken spectre free

My wife is a genius at getting free or nearly free plane tickets through air miles, so we found ourselves on vacation in Hawaii last summer, a quarter of the way across the world from our home. And we had read that you have a better shot at seeing it in only three places in the entire world: The Brocken mountains in Germany, parts of Scotland, and Leleiwi Overlook at Haleakala Crater on the island of Maui.

#Plane brocken spectre tv

That’s not a horror movie, or a fake paranormal TV show it’s a rare atmospheric phenomenon where you see a rainbow around your own shadow.