Mauna Kea

We decided it would be fun to drive up the mountain of Mauna Kea with Dave and Pamela to show them the views of the land….and the stars. We told them that we would leave early as it was about an hour and a half away (North and East) and that we would also have to acclimatize for a half an hour before we drove to the very top.

We all had an early dinner at “A Bay’s” which turned out to be a very cold, air conditioned place and we had a bit too much fried food to feel any sense of comfort in that way either. Ha ha. But after that it was time to drive up east and it was fascinating to watch the topography change and to see SO many wild goats. (Hundreds of them along the way.)

Luckily we told Pam and Dave that we would have to bring layers of clothing to stay warm once we got to the top. In fact, the final road up was blocked off because there were 75 mile an hour winds there. It was very very cold and windy even where we were. I did my best to climb up the loose lava rock scree to see the sunset but knew that I just couldn’t go any further that the lower level of the hill. So Terry helped me back to the car and the 3 of them hiked upwards and onwards.

Below you can see the gang before the climb, me back in the car, Pam and Dave at the lower summit, the taller hill they climbed, and the boys at the top.