Hawaii Diary
Wednesday, April 1 - Ocean to Mountain
The Waipi'o Valley to the Summit of Mauna Kea
Today was perhaps the busiest and most physically demanding day of our trip.
Our morning began with an early drive from the Waikaloa area across the northern part of the Big Island to the Hamakua Coast and the small town of Honoka'a. This lovely town serves as the headquarters for the Waipi'o Na'alapa Trail Rides. We checked in at their office and were given instructions to drive the 10 miles to the Waipi'o Valley Artworks in Kukuihaele. Here is where we met one of our guides for our trail ride in the Waipi'o Valley.
From this location, our guide Mike drove eight of us down into the valley by four wheel drive vehicle to their stables. It was here that we met our second guide Naoma, the daughter of the owner of the Waipi'o Na'alapa Trail Rides. Both Mike and Naoma are experienced riders and also residents of the valley in which only about fifty people currently live.
At this point we mounted our horses for our two hour trail ride through the valley floor. The horses and guides were old familiar friends, since we had previously experienced this trail ride several years ago with Naoma's sister Maile as our guide. This time I rode on Tony and Eileen rode on Snip. Last time we rode on Keoli and Huli who were ridden by others this time.
As we experienced previously, a ride through Waipi'o is both a commune with nature as well as a trip back into Hawaii's cultural and historical past. For more details, please feel free to read our feature on the Waipi'o Valley.
The waters were flowing heavily today in the valley. The famous waterfall Hi'ilawe was falling with much vigor and the waters in the river and streams were likewise quite spirited. The thrill of riding a horse in the Waipi'o Valley, across and up a fast flowing stream cannot be adequately expressed.
By noon, our trail ride was over and we were driven back up to the parking lot of the Waipi'o Valley Artworks. This shop is well worth a visit when you come to Waipi'o. It features wonderful woodwork by local artisans for sail at an excellent price. You will also find other artworks, books, postcards and even a small ice cream corner.
By 1:00 p.m. it was time to make the drive back across the island to Waikaloa. We were scheduled to be picked up at 3:50 p.m. for our trip to the summit of Mauna Kea.
A trip to summit of Mauna Kea is a long and somewhat physically demanding adventure. The company which runs the tour is called Mauna Kea Summit Adventures. They have an excellent website which is where we first learned about this exciting excursion to the top of the world.
We'll be going into more detail into this adventure at a future date but I will attempt to give you a brief overview here of what you can experience on this trip.
The trip began at 3:50 p.m. when we were picked up by our guide, Buck. Our group consisted of ten folks ranging in age from about 35 to 70. Buck is an extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide to this part of Hawaii. His background includes extensive experience in work with endangered species as well as stint with the National Park Service. He is a combination naturalist, culturalist, geologist and astronomer.
The trip from Waikaloa to the summit takes about two and half hours which includes as 30 minute acclimation stop at the Onizuka Vistor's Center at the 9200 foot level. Be sure to check out Bob Olson's feature "Ellison S. Onizuka - Tribute to a Hawaiian Hero". The ride takes you across a large part of the Saddle Road until you reach Mauna Kea Road. Along the way Buck gave us a wonderful narrative on the history, mythology, geology, flora, fauna, and animal life of the many levels of climate that we drove through. Again we will be detailing much of this in a future feature.
The stop at the Visitor's Center is necessary to allow your body to acclimate to the altitude in order to avoid altitude sickness at the summit which is located at 13,796 feet. It is here that you are given your warm parka and gloves which you will need for the rest of the evening. The drive from the Visitor's Center to the summit takes about a half hour and is one of the most beautiful drives imaginable. As you ride to the summit as circle the mountain you can see the ocean on the west side of Hawaii near the resort areas and Hilo down below to the southeast.
We arrived at the summit about 30 minutes before sunset and we spent the next hour or so watching the sun set as well as learning about the various observatories located at the summit and the work that they are doing. The scientific community has its own culture here in Hawaii which we will explore in more detail at a future point.
Needless to say the views from the summit at sunset are amazing, yet the longer your remain at the summit you begin to feel slightly dizzy and somewhat foggy due to the altitude. It is for this reason that the tour only remains there for an hour. This is not the place to be for anyone with serious health problems. Be sure to bring some chocolate or other sugar candy. It does help with effects of the altitude.
Following sunset we descended the mountain to the Saddle Road and to an area used by the Hawaii Girl Scouts for camping. This is at about 6000 feet and it is where we stopped for about two hours to star gaze. The tour provides sandwiches, hot soup and hot drink. Buck set up a very impressive telescope and proceeded to give us a wonderful lesson in the night skies of Hawaii, perhaps the clearest and most expansive views of the heavens available from the surface of the earth. Due to its proximity to the equator, from Hawaii you can view almost all of the stars of the northern hemisphere as well as about 70% of those of the southern hemisphere. In fact we were able to watch the Southern Cross rise above the southern horizon as the night progressed.
The star gazing aspect of this tour is very educational and informative. You learn of the names of the stars and constellations, not only the names that we have been taught in the west, but also their Hawaiian names and what these stars and constellations meant to ancient Polynesians and Hawaiians.
By about 10:15 p.m. it was time to head back down to the resort area at Waikaloa where we arrived at about 11:00 p.m.. The trip to Mauna Kea lasted over seven hours and it was well worth every minute of it.
Tomorrow we're off to explore the Northern Kohala District of Hawaii as well as Waimea, if time allows. We'll see you then.
