Top of Hawaii

Today is our last day in this beautiful place (May 8th, 2019). Our plan is to go to Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano that is the highest point in the state of Hawaii. Most of the volcano is underwater, and when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is the tallest volcano in the world.

I woke up before Hunter and started working on some of my research work. I figured its best to work while Hunter sleeps that way I don't feel like I am preventing fun things from happening. He eventually woke up and I worked till about 11:30. We then packed up our things and headed to a sushi place for lunch. Unfortunately, the sushi place Hunter originally wanted to go to was on another island about 200 miles away (laughing). We found another popular one in Kona and went to check it out. While we were looking at the menu, the lady told us there was currently an hour wait to get the sushi, so we left because we wanted to get going to the volcano. We quickly stopped at Costco and got a chicken bake and cheeseburger to go.

The drive to the volcano took about 2 hours. Like yesterday, as we climbed in elevation, we passed through a cloud that rained on us. We also saw some beautiful purple and orange trees. When we got high enough, we were in a beautiful green valley type area. As we got near Mauna Kea, we passed by Bradshaw Army Airfield. On our flight into Kona, there were a bunch of Army people who were heading there.

  

The view as we started driving up to the volcano

We began our climb up the mountain which provided stunning views. When we reached an elevation of 9200ft we came across a visitors center. They had a small convenience store and art gallery. They even sold sweaters because of the high elevation and colder temperatures. After looking around and reading some of the information about weather conditions and telescopes we continued towards the summit.

The summit is a sacred place and actually inaccessible to the public, however, we still were able to access where the telescopes are. With its high elevation, dry environment, lack of light pollution, and stable airflow, Mauna Kea's summit is one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation. The observatories are located in a special zone called the Astronomy Precinct. The observatories on the summit use both visual light, infrared, and radio telescopes. Several are run by joint teams including Canadian, French, British and Japanese scientists. The Subaru telescope is the most expensive ever built, while the Keck Observatory, which we toured, has some of the largest mirrors ever deployed. It was where it was discovered that other Pluto sized objects exist in the outer solar system which led to the downgrading of Pluto’s status as a full planet. There is a planned 30m telescope which work is already being started on which will be the largest of its kind in the world. The locals have mixed feelings on the telescopes due to the challenges of balancing the wealth of scientific data gained from these facilities and the fact that the summit area is sacred to native Hawaiians.

Map of the different observatories

an attempt at taking a panoramic as we drove

our rental truck and a bunch of the observatories

Inside of one of the Keck Observatory

Lots of ice at the extreme elevation

walking outside of the Keck observatory 

It looks like snow, but its clouds!

After exploring around the Keck Observatory, and Hunter getting altitude sickness, we headed back down the volcano looking out at the awesome views and rocky environment. It was pretty amazing as I never really had been in a volcano environment.

A small rainstorm on the way down the volcano

We headed back towards Kona as our flight was departing later in the evening. We stopped in a heavy tourist area to get more water and once we were back near the coast, we stopped at a beach called Anaehoʻomalu Beach. It was near the Hilton Grand Vacations and Marriot Resort and Spa. When we got there, we were greeted by a bunch of cats. They were very cute and there was a sign up saying that they are taken care of by the park nearby so we shouldn't worry. I carefully pet one as Hunter told me I was going to get fleas, but I was sure to be careful.

We walked on the beach a bit and then headed to the mall area nearby to get dinner. We went to this upscale grocery store that had a to go restaurant type part and bought lovely salmon salads for dinner. While we ate on their patio space, little Eurasian Skylarks (invasive bird species that look similar to finches or chickadees) kept trying to steal our food. There were many signs up saying not to feed them and they didn't seem to be fearful of people at all.

After we ate we headed to Costco to fill up the rental car and then return it before going to wait for our flight at the airport. Kona airport is all open air and quite neat. Once we cleared security we sat down by a grassy area as the sun set and a few planes took off. Once our flight came around, we had to clear a second security, biosecurity, to prevent the transmission of diseases and invasive species to the mainland. It was much simpler than the first security as all they were really looking for was foods, plants, and animals.

We waited until they cleared us and we got first class back to LA. Sadly we did not get to sit together, but at least we were in big comfy seats for the 7 hour flight. We also got dinner on the plane and Hunter and I both ordered the pasta. It was very delicious. We quickly went to sleep and before we knew it we were in LA bright and early May 9th. 2019. The plane was a whole hour early! Initially, we had planned to spend the day in LA, but instead, we found an open flight to Las Vegas with the same price on a rental car. This planned worked out better because we got to go to Ikea to pick up a new shelving unit - a 25 cube shelf! We also got to go to a Microsoft store and replace my laptop as the battery was essentially dead. We finally got back to St. George around 6pm, both quite tired and ready to rest.

Our yummy dinner

Getting my computer replaced

A state park we drove through on our way home from the airport

The Ikea shelf we got to replace the tiny dresser we had

All in all this trip was quite the adventure. It started out as a plan to visit Italy and Spain but turned into Japan and Hawaii. I enjoyed every second of it and now am excited to put my full attention into my research work while Hunter spends the next week at his work. I also am excited to go back home (Ontario) later this week and see my family and cats!

Till the next adventure!

Date: May 8-9, 2018