Yesterday Camden and I made a trip up to Mauna Kea to check out the snow. We originally had planned to make the 6 mile hike up to Mauna Loa again, but we had to rethink our plan once we got to the trailhead. As soon as we started hiking my ankle and foot started to experience sharp pains. I think I had rolled my ankle while playing with my dog the other day. As we took a breather and I examined the situation, I also took some time to pray about it. I definitely got the sense that going up Mauna Kea would be the better idea…And we would soon find out it was. So we tracked back to the car and began the drive down Mauna Loa and up Mauna Kea. They have rangers at the visitors center which is halfway up the mountain. They stopped us and asked if my car was 4×4, to which I just said yes and that it’s a Subaru. At first, we both thought that the rangers were gonna give us a hard time, but after seeing some of the cars that had gone up I was not surprised at all that they let us through. There were two-wheel drives and even a Tesla (According to Camden).
When we reached the observatory a lot of the parking spots were taken, but I’m glad we got one when we did because loads more cars began arriving. The snow was gleaming with the sun still overhead, beginning its trail down to the horizon. There was a group that was snowboarding from the top by the observatory to the next road down below. They had a partner meet them down at the road in their truck and rush them back up so they could get as many runs in as possible which was pretty cool. The wind was blowing well enough to give chills. We were both not prepared to hike Mauna Loa at all. That would have been a road of suffering especially on the way down, given that we would have been hiking back in the dark. I had thermals on heavy socks, a beanie, winter gloves, and my jacket on, and was still cold. We explore the observatory for a bit and wait for the sun to get lower to the horizon for the golden light. After a bit, I hear sirens that sound like they are racing up the mountain. This was interesting because I was thinking on the way up what emergency services do for accidents up here. From my understanding helicopters sort of struggle at this altitude. I looked over the guardrail where a ranger had been standing talking on his radio. There was a guy way down at the bottom of one of the large hills. From the looks of it the ice and snow along with the steep grade was too much for him to get back up. Soon enough Rescue and paramedics were at the top looking at a way to get him up. I didn’t stick around to watch, because a crowd was beginning to grow and I wanted to get back to the car to get my camera ready for photos. Here are some photos at the sunset and just after. The vivid golden-orange light was painted across the snow and contrasting black lava rock. Photos don’t really do it justice. Snow in Hawaii… This is my third time in this experience. Both Camden and I had wanted to stay up on the mountain to take some long exposure astro photography, but it was not going to happen this trip. We were both too cold. Maybe this weekend…
Until next time.
