Big Island Hawaii part 5 Dec 7, 2007 - Hilo, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa
This was the day to drive the jeep up Mauna Kea and explore the summit and observatories, plus take in some views. Things don't always turn out as you plan, though, as that nasty snow storm two days prior forced the closure of the mountain top. The welcome center sits at about 9200' and that was as far as they would let us go, they wouldn't even let us hike past. It was a clear blue day, so that seemed a little odd, but the circling helicopters hinted at somthing more. Apparently a hiker went missing in the storm and the search was still on (1.5 mb video of search and rescue chopper), and according to later news, they gave up looking after about a week...

first, a musical interlude, starring Aunt Minerva, with 'Akaka Falls' (2 mb video)	the journey inland

first stop, Rainbow Falls (1 mb video)	Mauna Kea, just off Saddle road (1.2 mb video)
We weren't allowed to make the supposed 3 hour hike to the summit (booo). But the good folks at the welcome center welcomed us to climb a nearby ant hill.

the anthill hike (3.8 mb video)	the welcome center, from the anthill (1 mb video)

view up Mauna Kea, from the anthill	view south, Mauna Loa at right (0.9 mb video)
So we headed back down to saddle road, and after noting the 1/4 tank left of gas in the jeep (should have filled up before leaving Hilo), we decided to follow the gps and see where that Mauna Loa mountain road would take us.

Destination Mauna Loa (the road is visible near the left side)	starting up Mauna Loa (1.4 mb video)

looking back at Mauna Kea (1.5 mb video)	the driving gets a little rougher further up (1.3 mb video)...and into the snow (3.2 mb video)

parked at the foot of the weather station, at 11 100' (1.5 mb video)	nice view of Mauna Kea from here
We were just past the snow line at this point, and the hiking trail began just up the road from here. The road did continue to the summit, but rather than risk driving it, we elected to do a bit of hiking from here instead (some other jeep, 2.3 mb video). Already 2pm, and looking at a treaturous 6 mile, high altitude hike to the summit, we decided to only go part way up.

trail up from here, just follow the rock piles	connect the dots (2.3 mb video)

i think this means no storms for today

this crater up ahead looked like a nice turn around point	..but reaching it involved leaving the 'beaten path' (3.4 mb crater hike video)

i think some hiking boots and snow pants would have helped in this stalagmite field	Will surveys the scene from the crater's lip

no toboggan rentals anywhere	crater bowl
This little crater looked to be about halfway to the summit from the trail head (according to google earth), but we had to go a good half mile off the trail to get to it. It was like hiking through a crumbly stalagmite field, with mini crevasis hidden under the crusty windswept snow, which would randomly break though to knee depth. We hadn't really come prepared for this, having only a windbreaker over two thin shirts, regular soled shoes, no gloves, and a borrowed touque hat, myself. Will claimed to be relatively unaffected by the high altitude/low oxygen, but my head felt numb, like it was full of wool, and my vision was getting slow and groggy, and everything looked too white and bright. We had just hiked 3 miles in 1.5 hours, past 12000' with no altitude climatizing to speak of, it was time to head back.

traildown with Mauna Kea peeking over the clouds (2.9 mb video)	...leave your skis at home

45 minutes later, back at trailhead, Will takes a well deserved rest (1.6 mb video)	Dave checks the wind speed
The sun was sinking, the gas tank was nearly empty and i had a bad headache, that would last the rest of the day. It was time to head back to Hilo, where we ended up getting a couple of pizzas, and tried to make some new friends at the hostel. No hawaiian pizza available at the Pizza Hut here, weird

Mauna Kea, one last look (0.8 mb video)	some gnarly cloud work from Saddle road
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