Back from the Big Island, vol. 2

Friday morning we were back at the marina, ready to head out for two more dives. The seas had calmed tremendously and the boat ride was much more tolerable. (I was still pumped full of Triptone, but I think I might have been able to handle the ride sans drugs.) The dives were great but when we got back to shore after lunch I was tired and ready to be dive-free for awhile. We went back to our rooms and got ready for an afternoon/evening of relaxing in Kailua-Kona. For supper we decided on a sushi place that served enough deep-fried stuff for Ken's liking. We didn't stay out too late - we had a long day of driving ahead as we were heading towards Volcanoes National Park the next day via a stop at the top of Mauna Kea.

We took our time Saturday morning before we left. Based on the diving we had done on Friday, we needed to wait awhile before we hit the road. You need to be wary of altitude too soon after diving, just to be safe. Usually this applies to flying after diving, but on the Big Island it is pretty easy to get over 1,000 feet withing ten minutes of driving inland. Saddle Road itself, which runs between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, is around the 6,000 feet mark. We drove up the western coast and then headed over to Waimea. We stopped off and saw some sights along the northern coast and swung down into Hilo for lunch. Next we were heading to Mauna Kea.

Mauna Kea is home to lots of telescopes and cool scientific things. (I can't even begin to understand what all they're studying up there.) Due to the altitude at the summit (13,796 ft.) the air is particularly clear and they can "see" things that you can't, say, in Los Angeles or Newark. Also due to the altitude, there is 40% less oxygen at the summit, meaning that altitude sickness is a real possibility. There's a visitors center at the 9,300 ft. mark that they encourage people to stop at for about 30 minutes to let your body acclimate itself.

We decided that we were going to watch the sun set from the summit which, due to the number of tour buses up there, seemed to be what lots of people wanted to do. Our group had our "winter" gear - sweatshirts, hats, gloves. But some of the folks on the tour buses had full-body extreme weather gear: snow-pants, parkas, scarfs, mittens, hats. I haven't been that insulated since I was dressed by my mother to go sledding back in grade school. Now I understand that during the winter months that the summit of Mauna Kea is covered in snow and the howling winds make it severe, but we're in the middle of summer and it was only about 35 degrees up there with no snow. Seriously? Parkas?

[Side note: I delighted in the cold. I was so happy. I was skipping, yes skipping, around. It was fantastic to be chilly.]

The drive beyond the visitors center to the summit is intense. Much of it is not paved and it climbs the last 4,500 feet in about six miles. The grade is STEEP. If you get carsick, you need to be the driver on this part. Luckily almost all the traffic was moving the same way - up the mountain. I'm not sure how I would have handled two way traffic 12,000 feet up on a gravel road that is about a car and a half wide. Probably not well. It also didn't help that the sun was setting and it was absolutely blinding. For parts of the drive up I relied on Bernadette looking out the side telling me where I was because I couldn't see out the front windshield. (Not if I wanted to keep my retinas healthy. And yes, I was wearing sunglasses. The sun is just that bright.)

The summit is truly amazing. The altitude didn't really make itself known until you tried hiking around a bit. Then you found yourself respiring more frequently and your heart rate increased. I felt fine, but Zac wasn't feeling too hot. He was a little light headed and kind of sick. After about 20 minutes he seemed to be doing a little better, but decided that he'd leave the skipping and frolicking to me. We watched the sun duck below the clouds as it set and enjoyed the shivering that came with the lessening sunlight. It was strange listening to some of the giant telescopes fire up for the night, getting ready for work. Doors on the domes starting opening. Giant mechanical things started creaking and groaning. It was impressive.
We headed back down the mountain to hang out at the visitors center again. Every night they have stargazing available so we took a look at the moon, Saturn (I could see the rings!) and a green nebula. I had never seen the sky look like that. There were so many stars that the sky didn't look black, it was too illuminated. Zac and I cuddled in the chill and enjoyed the view for a little while longer until we all decided that it was time to head towards our lodging at the Kilauea Military Camp, at Volcanoes National Park - still two hours away. We finally got into our cabin around 10:30 and zonked out for the night.

The next morning we had some breakfast and walked around the Park a bit. We checked out a couple of lava tubes and had some sandwiches before it was time to head back into Hilo to fly back to Oahu.

The trip was great - the four of us saw some amazing things. I probably won't be heading back to the Big Island for awhile now (third time in 10 months!) but I've got some cool memories to tide me over til the next time.