Best star gazing on the planet
Great trip on the big island. We arrived on Wednesday on big island having only two and a half hous sleep the night before. We arrived with lots of excitment, as we could tell immediatly that our surroundings were different than those on Oahu. First of al it was quite cold when we arrived. We planned on going to the top of The Mauna Kea peak so we packed warm cloths, and immediatly packed into these upon arrival. The air felt different and we even thought Hilo may be at a high altitude, but quickly realized when driving to the hotel that we were right by the beach.
We could not check into the hotel at 6am so we jumped in the car drove to a diner, killed some time then head off to a nearby waterfall. We were extremely underwhelmed by the waterfall in town, so drove north to Akaka galls where we did a short hike inti absolutely beautiful waterfalls. The surroundings were also amazing and one could not ask for better weather.
Later we drove hours to the south and hiked through the forest then through the base of a crater which is still emitting steam and smoke. We jumped in the car and drove further to a black sand beach which is also a hatching area for sea turtles. we saw a couple which was nice.
We again jumped in the car then drove a couple hours to the lava flow. We were very unlucky in the sense that the lava had stopes flowing just a couple of days before. Apparently it flows and stops pretty regularily. That night we were so tired we crashed out at about 8:30pm.
Yesterday we started the day out with the pacific tsunami museum, then to the planitarium for a movie and tour of the exhibits. We then fueled up the car and started our drive up Mauna Kea, the almost 14,000 foot peak cover with billions of dollars of massive telescopes. It was a real trek to drive up there and the last section was restricted to 4wd vehicles, although I think you could probably get up there in a 2wd. The sunset was spectacular. Just breathtaking. But the temperature was shocking. It was in the low 40's bit with the wind chill it must have been in the 20's. We were supposed to go down after dark, but ended up staying up there at least 1.5 hours. The stars were like nothing one could imagine. The milky way, the colors, the number of stars. It made the whole trip worth it. We then drove to the visitors center at 9000 feet and used the telescopes they had for public use.
Today we are flying back to Oahu hoping to do some sailing.
We could not check into the hotel at 6am so we jumped in the car drove to a diner, killed some time then head off to a nearby waterfall. We were extremely underwhelmed by the waterfall in town, so drove north to Akaka galls where we did a short hike inti absolutely beautiful waterfalls. The surroundings were also amazing and one could not ask for better weather.
Later we drove hours to the south and hiked through the forest then through the base of a crater which is still emitting steam and smoke. We jumped in the car and drove further to a black sand beach which is also a hatching area for sea turtles. we saw a couple which was nice.
We again jumped in the car then drove a couple hours to the lava flow. We were very unlucky in the sense that the lava had stopes flowing just a couple of days before. Apparently it flows and stops pretty regularily. That night we were so tired we crashed out at about 8:30pm.
Yesterday we started the day out with the pacific tsunami museum, then to the planitarium for a movie and tour of the exhibits. We then fueled up the car and started our drive up Mauna Kea, the almost 14,000 foot peak cover with billions of dollars of massive telescopes. It was a real trek to drive up there and the last section was restricted to 4wd vehicles, although I think you could probably get up there in a 2wd. The sunset was spectacular. Just breathtaking. But the temperature was shocking. It was in the low 40's bit with the wind chill it must have been in the 20's. We were supposed to go down after dark, but ended up staying up there at least 1.5 hours. The stars were like nothing one could imagine. The milky way, the colors, the number of stars. It made the whole trip worth it. We then drove to the visitors center at 9000 feet and used the telescopes they had for public use.
Today we are flying back to Oahu hoping to do some sailing.
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