Mauna Kea Summit Hike
September 20th, 2016
(Big Island) Hawaii
13,803' - High Point of Hawaii
Standard trail from "Switchback" at 10,100'
9.3 miles, 3,700' of elevation gain
My parents have always been big fans of Hawaii, but I've never made it out there. We started saving airline miles, and 5 years later we thought - hey, we finally might be able to do this. Along the way I was climbing mountains, and I realized that Mauna Kea was definitely something I wanted to do when I was there.
My fantasy was to climb Mauna Kea at nearly 14,000', and then take a dip in the warm ocean later on that day.
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| Mauna Kea from the plane |
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| Gorgeous coral reefs can be seen in the crystal clear water |
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| Heading up the road on Mauna Kea |
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| Higher up the road on Mauna Kea |
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| What the switchback looks like where we started hiking |
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| The trail from the switchback |
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| Mauna Loa |
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| Looking ahead on the trail |
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| Not a spec of vegetation to be found |
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| The trail was pretty sandy but not too rough |
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| The trail started to flatten out near the top |
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| The true summit is to the right |
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| At this point it goes slightly downhill |
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| Moon over Mauna Kea |
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| Heading up the final pitch |
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| Summit observatories |
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| Mauna Loa from the summit of Mauna Kea |
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| Panorama shot from the summit |
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| Hero shot |
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| Looking North-East |
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| Our friends top out on the summit! |
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| Summit selfie, of course |
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| Heading back down |
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| Oh look, I found vegetation! |
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| Nearing the end |
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| Google Earth map of GPS tracks for the hike. It doesn't look like we climbed almost 4k feet! |
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| We ate at TJs BBQ on Da Beach! (note- not on the beach) |
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After the hike we drove all the way back to Kona, about 90 minutes, and ate the best smoked ribs I've ever had! They were served atop white rice and fresh pineapple slices! It tasted extra good after the long hike and drive!
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| Kona area from the boat |
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| Sunset from the boat |
BONUS PICS- BECAUSE HAWAII
Here's just a small slice of some of the other stuff we crammed into the other 3 days we were in the Big Island Hawaii
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| Looking SW from about 1,000' (south of Kona) |
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| Southernmost point in the US |
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| I am about to get blasted by a huge wave |
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| Green Sand Beach |
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| Green Sand |
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| Waipio Valley |
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| Akaka Falls |
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| Some flowers at the Botanical Gardens |
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| Orchid |
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| Sunset from the Mauna Kea visitor's center area |
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| Black Sand Beach |
We made the long drive to Hawaii Volcanos National Park and hiked 11 miles RT to see lava entering the ocean! HVNP was an interesting place. It was 6,000'; cold wet and rainy at the entrance. Hot and dry and clear at the ocean.
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| The hike to the lava entry was long and hot |
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| There were several warning signs around the hot crossing entrance |
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| The "hot crossing" was a bit spicy knowing lava was underneath our feet |
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| Lava Entering the Ocean |
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| Weird looking plants growing out of the lava flow |
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Lava spraying into the air at the Kiluaea Crater
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We had a great time in Hawaii. The big island is nothing short of magical. I highly recommend you check it out if you are on the fence.
