Mauna Kea

A few weeks ago some friends and I took an afternoon trip up to Mauna Kea. Carl was working, so he wasn't able to go. Its about a 2 hour drive from home to the summit (14,000 feet), and its paved the whole way.

All 7 of us piled into Tracy's Sequoia and charged it up the mountain. Because of the huge change in pressure at that elevation, you have to take it slow on the way up and down. Its recommended that everyone stop at the Information Center, which is at about 9,000 ft, for at least 30 minutes to acclimate. They have a nice little shop there where we got cup noodles and hot chocolate.

We started off the day in shorts and slippers, but as you can see from the photos, we quickly had to throw on some layers. At 9000 feet the temp was in the low 50s. I thought that was about as cold as it would get, but boy was I wrong!

Here's a pic of the whole gang, minus Mike. From left to right, me, Cone (our dive instructor), Jill, Dic, Diane, Tracy.

After our acclimation period we headed up to 13000 feet. For most of the drive up the hill it feels like you're on the moon. Until you see snow....

Mike decided it would be a great time for a snow ball fight.

There are only 2 natural lakes on the island of Hawaii, and one of them is on Mauna Kea at roughly 13,000 feet. Its just a short hike in from the road, but it can feel like miles if you're not careful. Because of the elevation any kind of physical activity can be very exhausting. For me the hike in was a breeze, but the hike back was a different story. It was more uphill on the way back, and I couldn't go more than 15 feet without having to stop and rest.

Dic tried to see how many push-ups he could do. I don't really remember how many he pulled off, but I know it was in the single digits.

After the hike to the lake we went up to the summit for the sunset. It was incredible!!!! And man was it cold! I couldn't believe the difference just from 13 to 14,000 feet. It was in the low 30s, but it felt like the teens because of the wind chill. Needless to say, we didn't last very long up there. As soon as the sun set we were out, which is unfortunate because the star gazing on Mauna Kea is, according to most astronomers, the 2nd best in the world. There is no light polution, and because of the layout of the island, there is never any cloud coverage. We didn't stick around to look through any of the telescopes, but even to the naked eye it was breathtaking.

The hill top you see in the background is Haleakala, a volcano on Maui. On a totally clear day you can see the entire island chain from the summit of Mauna Kea. That will definitely be a cool thing to see some day.