Because everyone else is doing it…
Big Island 2011: Mauna Kea
In addition to the cruise to Kealakekua Bay, I also took a guided tour to the summit of Mauna Kea. We had some delays due to poor weather at the summit — hail, ice, and snow was falling. But eventually we made it to the top (13,800 feet) where we stood among the numerous observatories that have been built there over the years. Not only did we have views across the Big Island — we could see Haleakala on Maui, as well. After that we did some star gazing back down at 9200 feet (though I don’t have any photos of that).
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- Grass and cinder cones on the way up the mountain
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- Love the rules, especially about the invisible cows
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- Silver sword
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- The road was closed for a while due to snow and ice. Yes, in Hawaii!
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- Clouds flow through the “saddle” between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa
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- A nice, iron oxide-filled cinder cone
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- Going up the summit — and snow!
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- The road was closed for several days prior due to heavy snow. I guess most of it melted.
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- Looking back down at the road to the visitor center (which sits at 9200 ft)
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- Yours truly at the summit. I’m cold and a little lightheaded from the altitude, but the view was worth it.
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- Two of the *many* observatories on the mountain
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- I just had to touch it to make sure it was real
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- More observatories
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- Sunset
| This entry was posted by Jeff Keller on May 14, 2011 at 1:21 am, and is filed under Big Island Trip 2011. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. |