OTHER Trip Report 04/28/2010

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Mauna Kea - 13796 Mauna Loa - 13677
Date Posted	04/28/2010
Date Climbed	04/19/2010
Author	Nelson

The Hawaiian Volcanoes
Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa trip report On the big island of Hawaii are two volcanoes which offer excellent opportunities for non technical climbing. I doubt if many people come here just to climb these volcanoes but once you are here they offer excellent opportunities to maintain or develop conditioning and to acclimatize. My wife and I arrived on the Island on April 17th. It was a time when the Utah skiing was being constantly interrupted by a stream of storms which provide a day of powder skiing at the most while ruining the corn skiing for several days. These same storms would then head to Colorado and elevate the avalanche conditions high enough to prevent me finishing my 14ers. I hoped these mountains would let me acclimatize and develop my climbing muscles while waiting for Colorado to settle down. Mauna Kea, (13,796) On Monday the 19th I got up at 5am in our hotel, The Hilton Waikoloa, got my gear together and headed for Mauna Kea. I was concerned about driving on the Saddle Road as it has quite a reputation. For a long time Car rental Companies forbade customers from driving their vehicles on it. It has since been improved and I found it not to be a problem but a little tricky. It took less than an hour to get to the Mauna Kea road and I drove the last 6 miles on the paved access road to the Onizuki Visitor Center and arrived at about 7 am. Onozuki Visitor Center and Ranger Station There is a Ranger Station here and I checked in and talked to the very helpful Rangers who updated me on conditions and got me started in the right direction on the Humu'ula trail to the summit. Humu"ula Trail The trailhead is at 9,200 feet and begins a very good, well marked trail. Hawaiian Cairn I had a beautiful day which I would call warm but windy. I started walking at 7:20 and had a very straight forward climb, topping out at 10:50. Geodectic Marker I had great views of the Island the whole way on this class I climb. At about 13,200 the trail joins the summit road for the last 600 feet to the top. At the top are several observatories where you leave the road for the final push to the summit. Observatories The climb is mentioned in the guide books but not well described. The best map was given to me by the rangers at the Visitor center. The trail is so good and well marked that navigation is not an issue. The total vertical climb was 4,800 feet (there are a few "ups and downs") which is a very healthy day at that altitude. The round trip distance was exactly 13 miles according to my GPS. As this was my first big downhill of the season my legs were duly "fried" and I rested the next day. I was back at the car in just over 6 hours. I only saw one other climber on the whole day but I ran into a ranger near the top and I saw several workers and tourists near the top. My SPOT Beacon did not function on this trip. I presume it was because of satellite reception as it worked both before and after the trip. This climb was exactly what I was looking for, a good work out in a beautiful environment ands a good start to the climbing season. Mauna Loa, (13,677) Mauna Loa as seen from Mauna Kea After a couple of days rest I got my camping things together and headed for the Mauna Loa observatory where I would camp at 11,055 feet and start early for the climb to Mauna Loa. The access road from the Saddle Road to the observatory is 17 miles and, although paved, is in pretty rough shape. Mauna Loa Observatory My rental PT Cruiser had absolutely no problem negotiating it in 50 minutes with horse power to spare. When I arrived the weather was so good that I elected to sleep "al fresco" and not bother with the tent. This decision proved to be the best of the trip and provided one of my best camping nights ever. After dinner I watched the sunset on one of the clearest nights ever and was treated to the best view of the heavens I have ever had. After the sun had set I felt more like I was in the middle of the firmament than staring up at it. There is a reason that all these observatories are here. It has far more than it's share of good weather and almost no ambient light. It was a truly magnificent night. I got up at 4:30 am to a chilly 30 degrees and packed up and started walking about 5:30. Because the distance was almost exactly the same as Mauna Kea (according to my GPS) and the vertical much less (2,770) I thought I would be faster than I had been on Mauna Kea. This was wrong. Although the route is very well marked and navigation was again, not an issue, there is really no trail to speak of. I traveled on a number of different kinds of old lava flow and volcanic ash and the footing was very unsure most of the time. I felt like I was moving slowly and summitted after 3 hours and 45 minutes. When I came to the rim of the Mokuaweoweo Caldera Mokuaweoweo Caldera at 13,000 (the end of the 1st climb described in the books) I was very impressed with the view. From there I hiked the rim of the Caldera to the summit (another 2.6 miles) and enjoyed the views of the caldera from the summit. Summit Cairn The guide books describe this climb as two separate climbs and say that, if done together, make for a "grueling day". I do not agree. It took me almost as long to get down as to go up because of the unsure footing. My round trip time was just over 7 hours. It was a big day and a lot of fun but hardly grueling. I returned to the Hilton Waikoloa Hilton Waikoloa and Cindy and I spent the next few day enjoying the beautiful Island of Hawaii and it's great food, hidden beaches and Waterfalls and Luau's. Waipio Beach Waipio Beach Waipio Valley Waterfall As I said, you might not come here just to climb these mountains but, as an overall package this is a tough vacation to beat. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

The Hawaiian Volcanoes

Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa trip report

On the big island of Hawaii are two volcanoes which offer excellent opportunities for non technical climbing. I doubt if many people come here just to climb these volcanoes but once you are here they offer excellent opportunities to maintain or develop conditioning and to acclimatize.

My wife and I arrived on the Island on April 17th. It was a time when the Utah skiing was being constantly interrupted by a stream of storms which provide a day of powder skiing at the most while ruining the corn skiing for several days. These same storms would then head to Colorado and elevate the avalanche conditions high enough to prevent me finishing my 14ers. I hoped these mountains would let me acclimatize and develop my climbing muscles while waiting for Colorado to settle down.

Mauna Kea, (13,796)

On Monday the 19th I got up at 5am in our hotel, The Hilton Waikoloa, got my gear together and headed for Mauna Kea. I was concerned about driving on the Saddle Road as it has quite a reputation. For a long time Car rental Companies forbade customers from driving their vehicles on it. It has since been improved and I found it not to be a problem but a little tricky. It took less than an hour to get to the Mauna Kea road and I drove the last 6 miles on the paved access road to the Onizuki Visitor Center and arrived at about 7 am.

Onozuki Visitor Center and Ranger Station

There is a Ranger Station here and I checked in and talked to the very helpful Rangers who updated me on conditions and got me started in the right direction on the Humu'ula trail to the summit.

The trailhead is at 9,200 feet and begins a very good, well marked trail.

I had a beautiful day which I would call warm but windy. I started walking at 7:20 and had a very straight forward climb, topping out at 10:50.

I had great views of the Island the whole way on this class I climb.

At about 13,200 the trail joins the summit road for the last 600 feet to the top.

At the top are several observatories where you leave the road for the final push to the summit.

The climb is mentioned in the guide books but not well described. The best map was given to me by the rangers at the Visitor center. The trail is so good and well marked that navigation is not an issue. The total vertical climb was 4,800 feet (there are a few "ups and downs") which is a very healthy day at that altitude. The round trip distance was exactly 13 miles according to my GPS. As this was my first big downhill of the season my legs were duly "fried" and I rested the next day. I was back at the car in just over 6 hours. I only saw one other climber on the whole day but I ran into a ranger near the top and I saw several workers and tourists near the top. My SPOT Beacon did not function on this trip. I presume it was because of satellite reception as it worked both before and after the trip.

This climb was exactly what I was looking for, a good work out in a beautiful environment ands a good start to the climbing season.

Mauna Loa, (13,677)

After a couple of days rest I got my camping things together and headed for the Mauna Loa observatory where I would camp at 11,055 feet and start early for the climb to Mauna Loa. The access road from the Saddle Road to the observatory is 17 miles and, although paved, is in pretty rough shape.

My rental PT Cruiser had absolutely no problem negotiating it in 50 minutes with horse power to spare. When I arrived the weather was so good that I elected to sleep "al fresco" and not bother with the tent. This decision proved to be the best of the trip and provided one of my best camping nights ever. After dinner I watched the sunset on one of the clearest nights ever and was treated to the best view of the heavens I have ever had. After the sun had set I felt more like I was in the middle of the firmament than staring up at it. There is a reason that all these observatories are here. It has far more than it's share of good weather and almost no ambient light. It was a truly magnificent night.

I got up at 4:30 am to a chilly 30 degrees and packed up and started walking about 5:30. Because the distance was almost exactly the same as Mauna Kea (according to my GPS) and the vertical much less (2,770) I thought I would be faster than I had been on Mauna Kea. This was wrong. Although the route is very well marked and navigation was again, not an issue, there is really no trail to speak of.

I traveled on a number of different kinds of old lava flow and volcanic ash and the footing was very unsure most of the time. I felt like I was moving slowly and summitted after 3 hours and 45 minutes. When I came to the rim of the Mokuaweoweo Caldera

at 13,000 (the end of the 1st climb described in the books) I was very impressed with the view. From there I hiked the rim of the Caldera to the summit (another 2.6 miles) and enjoyed the views of the caldera from the summit.

The guide books describe this climb as two separate climbs and say that, if done together, make for a "grueling day". I do not agree. It took me almost as long to get down as to go up because of the unsure footing. My round trip time was just over 7 hours. It was a big day and a lot of fun but hardly grueling.

I returned to the Hilton Waikoloa

and Cindy and I spent the next few day enjoying the beautiful Island of Hawaii and it's great food, hidden beaches and Waterfalls and Luau's.

As I said, you might not come here just to climb these mountains but, as an overall package this is a tough vacation to beat.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

TravelingMatt	Nice 4/29/2010 3:53pm Great report. I hiked Mauna Kea and Waipio on my trip to the Big Island back in January. Didn‘t do Mauna Loa, but did spend a couple days lower down in Hawaii Volcanoes NP. The Big Island certainly has a lot a variety.
Tjohn67238	Vacation in Hawaii 4/30/2010 12:57am I haven‘t been to Hawaii. But if I ever go, I‘d want to hike at least one of those. Thanks for sharing!
Wish I lived in CO	Fun Trip Report 4/30/2010 12:16pm I haven‘t read any Hawaiian Volcano TR‘s. The hikes looked like a lot of fun - and great weather in a beautiful setting. As TJohh says, if I ever go there I‘d make a point of hiking one of them.
kaiman	Thanks for the Trip Report 4/30/2010 9:55pm I have been thinking about taking my wife to Hawaii and climbing a couple of the volcanoes on the trip so the info is useful.
globreal	A vacation of variety... 4/6/2015 3:25am Looks like a great getaway when the snow ain’t working for ya in Utah and Colorado! I am hoping to get over there and climbs these two peaks. Looks like a very unique climbing experience. Thanks for your trip report. Britt

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