Mauna Kea- need suggestions

[djkest]

Greetings,
I have been wanting to climb Mauna Kea for some time now, and it looks like next year (2016) we are finally getting to go to Hawaii for the first time. Unfortunately we are most likely going to Maui and not to Hawaii. Also, my kids are pretty young (oldest will be nearly 5) and my wife doesn't hike much. With that in mind, I think I would still like to do Mauna Kea. It's not too terribly hard to get to Hawaii from Maui, but I would need a rental car to drop me off at the "trailhead" I think. Also, I don't know if I should do the hike alone. Maybe I should try to find someone who wants to climb it with me?

With regards to acclimitization, I was thinking it would make more sense to try and climb it within a few days of arriving in Hawaii, so that I am more acclimitized to 6700' instead of 67'. I should be able to get in some high altitude hiking before our trip.

Thoughts or ideas?

[Dave B]

The hike is pretty damn easy, but long.

We took the Humu'ula trail from the lower visitor central. RT time ~7 hours. We did it our second to last day on the island and experienced zero altitude problems - I just don't think intrinsic acclimation that occurs from living above 5K goes away all that quickly.

The hike is very easy and straight forward and would make a fine solo. We had a rental but I remember reading a bunch about how the rental agencies don't like their cars on the road, but I think that mostly applies to the road beyond the lower visitor center where it is unpaved for sections.

While the views are pretty nice, the hike itself is far from spectacular unless you think long volcanic dust slogs are fun. Trail running gaiters will make you a much happier person.

Ideas?: get one of the Wagyu burgers here after the hike.

[djkest]

^^Thanks for the tips.

I should add I have this idea that I am going to summit the highest point in Hawaii and go for a dip in the warm waters of the ocean in the same day, possibly in Hilo. Seems like a good idea to me.

[gorshkov]

I haven't hiked Mauna Kea, but I did take one of the van tours of the observatories. My advice based on that is to bring good cold-weather gear. The temperatures near the summit were near freezing, and the summit is right up in the jet stream, so there were also 50 mph winds.

[screeman57]

Maui offers the perfect acclimation opportunity. Do the big dayhiking loop in Haleakala Crater (imo, a much more interesting hike than Mauna Kea, anyway). It's about 12 miles and starts at the summit (10,000+). Unbelievable place.

As far as Mauna Kea, you can do it alone and will see others doing so. Mauna Loa is longer and invites an overnight stay (and, again, imo, is much more interesting than Mauna Kea).

[summitrunner]

A very memorable hike. Park at the visitor center. Hike up. We did it in April. The weather was bad below us (the weather builds up from the base). It started snowing on the way down, so we hitch hiked down. There is a road that goes nearly to the top. Got back down and was on the beach in Kona an hour later. Such a cool experience. Hike it! Class 1 for sure. I'll never forget it!

[Nelson]

I hiked Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa about 5 years ago. I put up a report which you may find informative:

http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... m=tripmine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Both hikes were very enjoyable.

Nelson

[esskay1000]

I did it years ago unplanned and tried to find a jacket, good luck with that. Not many for sale there. For acclimatization, drive to the top first if you can, and hang out up there for a while. The telescopes are really really cool, you might get a little bit of a headache excetera but then drive back down. It's like what climbers do on big Himalayan peaks, going up and then down gives your body exposure to the altitude, but the car allows you to recover fast. That's what I did and I was fine

[USAKeller]

Here is my amateur TR from my hike of Mauna Kea 8 years ago, not sure if there's anything in it that might help you or not: http://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 425#p64425

[cougar]

I did both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa last Sept. I hit these early in my trip, a couple days after arriving, figured it was best to do those before settling in at sea level. No acclimation issues. Actually feels a bit easier than CO at the same elevation. I did it in about 5 hours round trip with plenty of photo stops. Most desolate landscape up there. Didn't feel cold but I brought a jacket in case. I saw no one on the trail the whole day but various trucks going up and down the road. Great cloud deck below most of the time and blue sky above it.

You should have no problems doing it alone - it's class 1 as mentioned, near a road most of the way. It's pretty sandy though, in some stretches at the bottom and top it's like going up and down a giant sand dune. But it's generally pretty low angle with considerable flat stretches. And on parts of the descent you can plunge step down.

Biggest challenge is finding the start of the actual trail up, because at the base there's a bunch of social trails that go up and around the lower foothills. You want to head up the road to a dirt road that hooks left across from the buildings. Ask at the visitor center when you pick up the permit. I followed an extra trail up and over a hill before finding the main trail.

Older trip reports mention rough roads, I didn't find this on either peak. Saddle Rd is a solid paved highway now, and the road to Mauna Loa is freshly paved and smooth (but still narrow and dangerous with oncoming traffic - lots of 'waves').

If you're up for it, hit both peaks (different days - would be a half day for each). Despite their proximity, Mauna Loa is a totally different experience from Mauna Kea due to the fresh lava (black, red, and metallic lava vs. red sand). They may as well be on opposite sides of the world.

Halealaka also is great and I actually felt it was a bit more strenuous despite the lower elevation, because the trails were steeper (canyon/valley floor and spent a few days at sea level prior, and a 3am wakeup for sunrise without coffee). Similar colors and terrain as Mauna Kea but much more variety.

[TravelingMatt]

Biggest challenge is finding the start of the actual trail up, because at the base there's a bunch of social trails that go up and around the lower foothills. You want to head up the road to a dirt road that hooks left across from the buildings. Ask at the visitor center when you pick up the permit.

Permit? I don't remember nothin bout no permit.

Older trip reports mention rough roads, I didn't find this on either peak. Saddle Rd is a solid paved highway now, and the road to Mauna Loa is freshly paved and smooth (but still narrow and dangerous with oncoming traffic - lots of 'waves').

From a Colorado perspective the road up to MK is hilariously tame. That said, I've heard of rental car agencies inspecting wheels for black dust, so maybe do a quick wash before dropping the car off.

[djkest]

Lots of good info guys, thanks. I have read all the TR on this site, and most of them on Summitpost. I could probably call the ranger station too and ask them about current conditions, road construction, etc. I will admit my primary motivation for climbing this is that it's a state highpoint and looks neat. But who needs an excuse to climb a mountain anyway?