Mauna kea is the tallest mountain in the Hawaiian Islands. It sits in the central part of the big island of Hawaii. Most years it is snowcapped in winter. The island then is the only place on earth that you can swim in the warm water of the Pacific in the morning and ski in the afternoon. You can also drive to the top of the mountain.
I have not taken tours on this trip but I joined my friend, Estee, her husband, and sister to see the sunset on top of Mauna Loa. The roads to the mountain are very rugged and not good for cars so it was great to have a tour and a guide to get us there. We left Kailua-Kona at about 1:30 in the afternoon.
The trip up was filed with open plains, stories of the ancient Hawaiians and seeing interesting flora and fauna. We stopped at 7000 ft to have an early dinner. Having a full stomach helps to prevent altitude sickness. After stopping at an abandon sheep cowboy camp to eat we continued up the mountain on a dirt road. The visitor’s center is at 9000 ft. We went on pass the center for the sunset.
At the top on Mauna Kea are many huge telescopes. It is the worlds largest observatory.The air is the cleanest and clearest of anywhere on earth. Astronomers from all over the world travel to the mountaintop to do research. The clouds had hung with us as we went up the mountain but as we passed the visitors center we traveled out and above the clouds. Our guides had brought along heavy winter parkas for us – it was below freezing up there – much different than the 80+ degrees it had been in town. The sunset was going down.
It was amazing and awe inspiring to see a sunset at 13,796 ft (only about 600 ft shorter than Mt. Rainier in WA!). It is the tallest mountain in the world when measesure from its base below sealevel. I had a sense of what it must be like for mountain climbers to reach the top of a mountain and be thrilled with the view. It was as if you could see the ends of the earth. The clouds below kept us from seeing the ocean. The sky, went of forever and the colors were spectacular!
After the sunset we quickly traveled back to 9000 ft to stargaze. The full moon had been a few days before and we needed to see the stars before the moon rose and created too much light. I got see the Milky Way, Jupiter, three shooting stars, a satellite orbiting, and a whole galaxy next to ours! The telescopes were amazing. As we were getting ready to leave, the moon was clear and huge , so we took time to view the moon through the high power telescope the tour guides brought. I could see craters!
The whole trip left me with a sense of the infinite and finite. I felt the infinite possibilities in the view and the Milky Way. And I felt finite in the smallness of humanity and myself. I felt sad in a way to know that there are so few places on earth left that have clear enough air to fully see the stars. Returning to Kona the air got thicker and warmer. I have not seen the mountain from sea level yet. It is most often covered in clouds. But I know where it is and I remember – remember the infinite possibilities for us all.
