Hiking to Mauna Kea's summit on the Major Island of Hawaii is becoming increasingly well known with visitors to Hawaii. It is attraction is understandable, at 13, 796 feet above sea level, Mauna Kea's summit is the highest point in the State of Hawaii. Because its base lies at 19000 feet below sea level, its has a base-to-summit height of 33,000 feet, creating it the tallest mountain on earth. The views from the summit are indescribably breathtaking, the notion of being in an alpine setting in the tropics is sufficiently special and, rather basically, it's also 1 of my most favorite locations on earth.
Mauna Kea began forming on the sea floor about one million years ago. Its name means "White Mountain" in the Hawaiian language and it is snowcapped significantly of the winter, and the summit is covered with permafrost 35 feet deep. Throughout the ice ages, Mauna Kea's summit was glaciated 3 times, beginning about 200000 years ago and ending only 11000 years ago. 1 can see the U-shaped valleys and cirques, striated bedrock, glacial tills covering the summit area and remnants of ice-damned lava flows from those times. There are even the remains of extinct rock glaciers near the summit.
The Visitor's Center and summit are reached via a road which turns off Saddle Road at about 6600 feet elevation near the 28 mile marker and tortuously stumbles its way up the south side of Mauna Kea to the Visitor Data Station at about 9300 feet. The road, though steep, is paved to the Visitor's Center. Above that, the road is graded dirt for about 5 miles, returning to asphalt paving for the final sprint to the rim of the summit crater. Road conditions for the summit road are offered at 808.935.6263.
The visitor's center is open from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. 365 days a year. Informational multimedia presentations, souvenirs, and some food items are offered here, as properly as clean restrooms and drinking water. Every evening after dark the center enables visitors to stargaze by way of various telescopes and informational talks by visiting scientists are occasionally scheduled. Saturday and Sunday Center staff lead escorted summit field trips, but visitors must supply their own vehicle. Call 808.961.2180 for info. It is suggested that summit-bound visitors quit at the Visitor's Center for at least half an hour before heading to the summit so they can acclimate.
Above the Visitor Information Station there are no public accommodations, no water or food and no gasoline service the observatory buildings are closed to the public and often locked. There are neither public telephones nor restrooms, only port-a-potties. An emergency phone is located in the entrance to the U of H 2.2 meter Telescope developing.
Driving the summit road to the incredibly top of Mauna Kea is neither as hazardous as the car rental companies want you to believe, nor as casual as quite a few Big Island residents will tell you. Accurate, the summit road is unpaved most of the way, it is steep and winding with limited view planes the road is very hazardous when wet or icy, which is regularly, and it is subject to frequent dense clouds, snow, rain and fog obscuring all vision. Also, balmy summer conditions may turn into lethal winter rages in minutes with small or no warning.
Nevertheless, the road is generously wide, routinely graded and poses no actual threat to the cautious driver. The secure driver can expect to reach the summit in about ½ an hour soon after leaving the Visitor Information Station. Remember, it's not the roughness of the road that will impede your automobile it's the elevation that will starve it for oxygen. To be secure, take as a lot time winding your way back down the mountain as you took coming up, making use of the lowest gear to save wear on brakes. Check your car rental agreement-a number of forbid you to drive this road. If you go anyway, your insurance is void, and you do so at considerable financial risk. Bear in mind, folks DO crater their cars on occasion.
If the weather turns frightful, just head down instantly. Relax, be calm and drive carefully you can be confident that, even if you have to slow to 10 miles per hour in locations, you'll be down to the safety of the Visitor's Center in a mere 40 minutes or so.
The summit of Mauna Kea, hosting the largest assemblage of astronomical instruments and telescopes in the world, is genuinely an amazing place a seductive juxtaposition of icy heights raised up from steaming tropical jungle the age-old altars of sacred Hawai'ian gods alongside edifices of the most modern of sciences of frigid landscapes carved during ancient ice-ages alongside fiery volcanic landforms all wrapped about a fabulous trip with a wee rumor of danger, just for spice! Wonderful, awe-inspiring, 360 degree views of the whole Major Island also consist of the islands of Maui, Kaho'olawe and Lana'i on clear days. The glow from Kilauea Volcano can be observed on clear nights. Even though daytime temperatures throughout the summer can peak in the 60s, it is normally cold-to-frigid, regularly wet and pretty windy on the summit. Plan and dress accordingly.
The summit region is also culturally and religiously fundamental to the native Hawai'ians, hosting lots of religious Heiau, an obsidian adze quarry and a number of other archaeological web sites. Remember this landscape, and the archeological internet sites upon them, are sacred take absolutely nothing but photographs, don't even leave footprints.
Parking is limited, but the hike from the top of the road to the actual summit is a should for any who have ventured this far and are in excellent shape. A stone altar and a USGS survey point mark the actual summit of the mountain, about a 15 minute walk up a cinder trail from the top of the road. A trail leading about the summit crater takes about 30 minutes to trek and traverses some quite wild country with stunning views. Be certain to bring a lot of drinking water and hydrate often to support stave off altitude sickness. Do not leave the safety of the parking lot if you are feeling ill or the weather is at all chancy-in truth, in deteriorating or poor weather, or at the onset of queasiness, one must leave the summit right away and descend.
Alternately, for those in exceptional physical condition, 1 can hike to the summit from the Visitor's center. Featuring unparalleled views, wild landscapes, archaeological internet sites and much more, the hike is about 6 miles in length, gains about 4500 feet in elevation and takes 6 to 10 hours to get up, depending on the hiker. There is no water readily available anywhere above the Visitor's Center, so take sufficient to get up, and back down. Frankly, a lot of persons opt to hitch-hike down the mountain immediately after hiking up. In reality, for folks short on time, or for whom scenery and not summit-conquering are the main goals, catching a ride to the summit and hiking down is a fantastic option, and takes only about three 1/2 hours.
A different absolutely stunning hike in the summit location, one that is accessible to almost anybody in reasonable condition, is to Lake Wai'au. Park at either the lot at about 12000 feet, near the five mile marker, or the lot at about 13000 feet, near the 7 mile marker. Needless to say, one hike is uphill in and the other is uphill out but both are less than a mile long and have comparable elevation changes. I prefer the upper trail simply because the view of the summit astronomical complex on the hike out is phenomenal. An absolute jewel of an alpine tarn in its own right, at 13,020 feet Lake Wai'au is 1 of the highest permanent lakes in the world...permafrost seals the lake bed in the loose tephra and glacial drift on which it sits. It's about 300? by 150? by 8 feet deep and, yes, I personally can vouch for its having been snorkeled. Not a lot to see in there, although.
There are a couple of well being concerns about visiting the summit of Mauna Kea as properly. In brief: kids under 16, pregnant ladies, and men and women with respiratory, heart, or severe overweight conditions are advised not to go greater than the Visitors Data Station. Scuba divers need to wait at least 24 hours following their last dive just before traveling to the summit.
Acute mountain sickness, resulting from exposure to high altitude, consists of nausea, headache, drowsiness, shortness of breath, and poor judgment. Aspirin and lots of water are palliatives for altitude sickness, but the cure is immediate and rapid descent. Sufferers will notice nearly total cessation of symptoms upon regaining The Saddle. Altitude sickness can be hazardous, even life threatening, and rapid onset of comatose condition, or even death, might be unexpectedly swift.
Lastly, there is severe risk of significant sunburn and eye harm, especially when there is snow on the ground. Be sure to wear sunglasses rated to at least 90% IR and 100% UV (both UVA and UVB) wear sunscreen rated to at least SPF 30. Long sleeves and pants help lessen the susceptibility to sunburn.
Most visits to Mauna Kea's summit are really pleasant experiences, encompassing painless adventures which may possibly feature mild altitude euphoria, fabulous views and a terrific sense of relief at reaching the paved road and public restrooms at the Visitor's Information and facts Station soon after leaving the summit.
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