Group: USAKeller (
)Route: Mauna Kea Trail (Humu’ula Trail)
Total mileage: 14 miles
Total elevation gain: ~4,590ft.
I woke up at 4:15am and left Waikoloa (just outside of Kona) at 5:00am ready for my first complete solo climb. I arrived at the Onizuka Visitor Information Station (VIS) (9,200ft.) at 6:15am. I came from the Kona side of the island, through Waimea, and entered Saddle Road (Hwy 200) from the west. It’s not a bad road, just narrow in some places without any services. Around mile 27-28, the Mauna Kea Access Road takes you to the VIS. It is all paved to this point. I registered with the ranger, and began hiking at 7:15am. The trail is about 100 yards up the road on the opposite side of the VIS. It was definitely chilly when I started- around 50 degrees, completely sunny and no wind.
USAKeller with Mauna Loa (13,680ft.) behind (taken from 10,000ft.):
The trail is an easy class 1 gradual walk-up marked with signs at the beginning, and then with metal poles afterwards as shown in the photos below. It is mostly comprised of sand sprinkled with rocks, and interspersed with large sections of lava rock and scree throughout a land of several volcanoes. This terrain gave me with the feeling of being on Mars- it is amazing how much we get used to hiking in Colorado.
Photos of the Mauna Kea Trail:
While hiking, one of the things I found interesting was how low the clouds existed; they created a skirt far below from where I was. You can see this in the photo above (on the right side). It was also incredible to see the massive profile of Mauna Loa behind me throughout the hike. Just after mile 6, the trail gently contours around Pu’u Hau Kea ending at the road (at the Mauna Kea Ice Age Reserve boundary). When I came around this peak (Pu'u Hau Kea), the first views of the observatories were overwhelming- they are huge! Unfortunately, my camera battery died and I couldn’t get a picture of that sight.
Where the trail meets the road:
I continued up the road for the last mile to find more observatories and higher winds. A little 5-minute easy detour (similar to the jaunt from the road up to the summit of Mt. Evans) takes you over to the summit of Mauna Kea to where I arrived 3hrs. 50min. later from when I started. The temperature was definitely warmer; but due to the amount of sweat I produced, I put a hat on. The summit is simple, with an interesting shrine atop, and lacking a summit register. It still was amazing to me how low the clouds were- it definitely made me feel like I was much higher than I’ve ever been. A tourist came over and offered to take some summit shots and later email them to me.
USAKeller on the summit of Mauna Kea with some of the many observatories behind:
I soon had the summit all to myself and for a few minutes the wind calmed down. I said a prayer for David- I knew I was going to be emotional, but didn’t know how much. Throughout the entire hike, I could feel David’s presence with me; it was a weird but wonderful feeling. I didn’t want it to end. I reached out to grab his hand, and I could feel it, just not physically. I didn't want that to end either.
After an hour of walking around up there, I decided to head back. I hauled back down the 7 miles back down and returned to the visitor’s center 2hrs. and 30min. later. One of the rangers was surprised to see me back that soon! Recently, I found out from sdkeil that David had always wanted me to solo something. I did this highpoint for David and for myself. Mauna Kea was my first solo climb, and, although it was problem-free and animal-free (
), I’m happy with this trip and want to learn more about solo climbing. Nonetheless, it was a good peak to start with. I found that the hardest part was waking up at sea level (of which I was at for a week prior to), driving up to 9,000ft., and then climbing to nearly 14,000ft. and back down in a matter of 8 hours (pretty much gaining almost 14,000ft. in one day without anything being pressurized)! I generally don't experience problems with altitude, but that definitely gave me a taste of what it is like for people who come to Colorado feel when they climb. It was a beautiful day with weather I couldn’t complain of. I’ve heard that when the weather is foggy, driving on Saddle Road and climbing up Mauna Kea is not recommended; I definitely see how the road can be unsafe and the trail might be a challenge to stay on in these conditions.I just went down to the beach to watch a striking sunset…
