Sunset from (near) Mauna Kea
Hawaii April Travelog #28
Mauna Kea Visitors Center - Thu, 14 Apr, 2022, 8pm
Mauna Kea. A dormant volcano. The highest peak on Hawaii, at 13,803' (4,207.3 m) above sea level. Argued by many to be the tallest mountain in the world counting the fact that it starts almost 20,000' deep in the Pacific Ocean. And there's a hiking trail at the top- what a perfect place for us to visit!
...Or so we thought. It turns out we couldn't go all the way to the top. The park says you need a 4x4 vehicle, with low-range gearing (so no "cute 'utes" allowed), to traverse the last 8 miles of road. Rangers had a roadblock at the visitors center at 9,000' and were strict about stopping people from driving onward. This trip, like most trips where we fly and rent a vehicle, we didn't have a serious 4x4. Oh, well.
Since we couldn't drive to the top we had an extra hour or two before sunset. Our plan was to get all the way up, hike around the top just before sunset, then watch the stars come from from next to the famous Keck Observatory up there. Instead we rested in the car (it's cold outside at 9,000'!) and waited until close to sunset to hike up a ridge near the visitors center.
From atop this nearby ridge at 9,200' we enjoyed the sunset. A ranger at the station told us they expected the cloud cover to lift just before sunset. It did... kind of. The clouds lifted above us but not below us. That created the weird "above the clouds" effect you see in the photo above.
I lugged my nice camera and tripod- minus, of course, the lens that was stolen- up the hill. I was surprised overall how easily I handled the ~200' of ascent considering a) the high altitude with next to no acclimation and b) my legs still being mostly wrecked from the Koko Head Tramway trail earlier in the week.
Anyway, with those tools in hand I was able to capture some fun pictures in the dusk light. The photo above shows the view up to the summit of Mauna Kea. In the midground are two small craters.
What happens, BTW, when you turn the exposure compensation knob on your camera to +2 stops? It makes sunset look kind of like a nuclear explosion!
...But in a good way. Clearly nobody here's being nuked. 🤣
People started filtering down from the ridge after the sun set. We stayed on, waiting to see stars come out. It was cold, though; about 40° vs. a high of 84° down in Waikoloa earlier in the day (4.5° C vs. 29° C). Our part-year-resident friend Dave quipped when we told him where we were going, "I don't even have a long pants on the island." We'd packed long pants and a few light jackets just so we'd be ready for things like this.
In this last photo (above) the moon is rising. I'm not sure what that other photographer is shooting. The moon and stars are up there, bub.
We headed back down the ridge in the total darkness. I had a bunch of small flashlights in my pack so I lent one to Hawk- whose backpack was stolen, remember? But it turned out our iPhones provided way better light via their flashlight tool. So we picked our way down the dark mountain, phones in hand. In beauty we walk... with the ghost of Steve Jobs.
Mauna Kea Visitors Center - Thu, 14 Apr, 2022, 8pm
Mauna Kea. A dormant volcano. The highest peak on Hawaii, at 13,803' (4,207.3 m) above sea level. Argued by many to be the tallest mountain in the world counting the fact that it starts almost 20,000' deep in the Pacific Ocean. And there's a hiking trail at the top- what a perfect place for us to visit!
...Or so we thought. It turns out we couldn't go all the way to the top. The park says you need a 4x4 vehicle, with low-range gearing (so no "cute 'utes" allowed), to traverse the last 8 miles of road. Rangers had a roadblock at the visitors center at 9,000' and were strict about stopping people from driving onward. This trip, like most trips where we fly and rent a vehicle, we didn't have a serious 4x4. Oh, well.
Since we couldn't drive to the top we had an extra hour or two before sunset. Our plan was to get all the way up, hike around the top just before sunset, then watch the stars come from from next to the famous Keck Observatory up there. Instead we rested in the car (it's cold outside at 9,000'!) and waited until close to sunset to hike up a ridge near the visitors center.
From atop this nearby ridge at 9,200' we enjoyed the sunset. A ranger at the station told us they expected the cloud cover to lift just before sunset. It did... kind of. The clouds lifted above us but not below us. That created the weird "above the clouds" effect you see in the photo above.
I lugged my nice camera and tripod- minus, of course, the lens that was stolen- up the hill. I was surprised overall how easily I handled the ~200' of ascent considering a) the high altitude with next to no acclimation and b) my legs still being mostly wrecked from the Koko Head Tramway trail earlier in the week.
Anyway, with those tools in hand I was able to capture some fun pictures in the dusk light. The photo above shows the view up to the summit of Mauna Kea. In the midground are two small craters.
What happens, BTW, when you turn the exposure compensation knob on your camera to +2 stops? It makes sunset look kind of like a nuclear explosion!
...But in a good way. Clearly nobody here's being nuked. 🤣
People started filtering down from the ridge after the sun set. We stayed on, waiting to see stars come out. It was cold, though; about 40° vs. a high of 84° down in Waikoloa earlier in the day (4.5° C vs. 29° C). Our part-year-resident friend Dave quipped when we told him where we were going, "I don't even have a long pants on the island." We'd packed long pants and a few light jackets just so we'd be ready for things like this.
In this last photo (above) the moon is rising. I'm not sure what that other photographer is shooting. The moon and stars are up there, bub.
We headed back down the ridge in the total darkness. I had a bunch of small flashlights in my pack so I lent one to Hawk- whose backpack was stolen, remember? But it turned out our iPhones provided way better light via their flashlight tool. So we picked our way down the dark mountain, phones in hand. In beauty we walk... with the ghost of Steve Jobs.