Who toured Maua Kea on their own?

Aloha. I%26#39;ve been digging through the posts and other web sites and it seems that Hawaii Dan%26#39;s recommedation of doing the Mauna Kea thing on your own makes a lot of sense. You rent a 4WD so you can drive all the way from the Visitor Center to the summit and take the free U of H tour given on weekends. That way you go into the telescope buildings that are in use, and save money too. Has anyone out there done this? I was curious about a couple of things.

How bad was the driving part, such as the drive back in the dark? Is there anything tricky about starting a car at 14,000 feet?

Did you take your own warm clothes from home? Dan mentioned getting parkas at thrift shops, but some other folks on the island were suprised that this is possible.

We have the choice of 2 weekends, one at the full moon, the other a week later. This would mean a much later moonrise so I gather is greatly preferable.

Any other comments welcome.

Who toured Maua Kea on their own?

There are a lot of thrift shops..... All you need is several layers of sttuff and a light wind-breaker... Go to REI and get their mini rain shell... for 40 bucks..... then layer you will be fine. The Kona area and Waimea area have a lot of options.

There is nothing more trickey than driving to Reno over 80 or Kirkwood over Carson, The road is narrow from the Mauna Kea side and is a freeway on the Hilo side... Hazzards include fog and frost in the road dips and wild pigs on the road. It s darker than dark up there.. but is safer at night than during the day. You can see the other drivers and they you. since your car has a computer controled air mixture sensor there is no problem in starting.... never had one. Infact I am going up on the 14th with some family .....

The road from mile marker 28 ascends very steeply to the visitor center at 9000 ft. thent turns to cinders beyond and becomes 4x4 as it ascends the last 5000 ft... no gard rails till you get almost to the top where it becomes paved for the last mile or so

The less moon the better.... the later the rise the better. the star session is from 6-10 the tour of the summit is 1to5.....

Bring a snack in between and a red lens flashlght to keep your night vision....

You will do fine.

Who toured Maua Kea on their own?

Dan, thanks. How much time would you say to allow from Kona airport area to the Visitor Center?

We have the option of the 13th, 15th or 21st. Seems like the 21st will be much better for stars. Also since that will be our last night, the logistics work better-return cheap rental car so we have only the 4WD our last 24 hrs.

Good point about seeing other drivers. Somewhere I saw advice NOT to drive down much before sunset, because part of the time you%26#39;ll be driving right into the sun which is difficult.

I have a friend who said the parkas provided by his commerical tour were not sufficient. They spent a lot of time at the summit and it was a very windy and cold night. He backpacks a lot and is not a wimp.

From the Kona airport allow 2.5 hours maybe 3. you want to get used to the altitude somewhat... there is 40% less o2 at the summit and 75 to 80% of the folks who go up get someform of altitude sickness.... Go slow stop along the way to the visitor center it is a 55 mile drive that climbs 9000 ft..

you schedule on the 21 sound the best.

if you go on the Keck tour you will be out of the wind in the buildings... the commercial tours dont go in them just stand about and look at stuff.....and let you climb to the real summit to the south. The buildings are un-heated because the scopes need to be as cold as possible for their mirrors and CCD units, ( in fact they pump LNO2 through them)

My advice is do as little physical activity as possible walk slow..... going up so fast can be dangerous.....If you start to get sick...descent is the only cure.

Enjoy

I was going to stop at the visitor center anyway, since that is supposedly the rendezvous point for the U of H tour.

So no one else out there has done this?!

A friend who has a condo on Hawaii mentioned having to drive down in the dark w/o headlights. But that must be only a small portion near the summmit, right?

Aloha sj, The thrift shops I hasve seen on the islands really don%26#39;t carry winter clothes. We always brought a putt over turtle or cartigan wool sweater and gloves and we stayed warm. I wouldn%26#39;t count on buying warm clothing in Hawaii.

there is no driving down without headlights... at 9000 ft you are above the saddle only a bit. If you leave the viewing session they ask you to not turn on dome lights, to position your car so you dont have to back up ( back up lights) and to use your gears rather than hit the brakes.

They also ask you to use our parking lights for a bit.... less than 1/4 mile till you round the bend. The reason is white light will destroy everyones night vision for almost and hour after being exposed to it.Your vision will be very poor.

Speaking of what you see, at night your eyes shut down their color vision when looking through a telsscope..... all immages will look in the white to green-gray spectrum.

You wont see colors like in the magazines..

You will all be off the mountain summit while it is still light.... after the sunsets they make it clear time to go....now.

This is so the big scopes can start their setups... which take hours.

This is why a red-lens flash light is so important to you.... and others.

Hi, I%26#39;m also looking at driving to Mauna Kea Summit...It sounded like driving conditions will be pretty easy, correct? What time of year is there snow? I will be going in late March.

In addition, someone in my group has limited mobility and can%26#39;t walk long distances or negotiate rough terrain. Would the free weekend tour be doable or appropriate? Is there enough to see just by driving as far as onecan drive (with the Harpers 4WD) and not having to hike anywhere?

Thanks!

it is very easy.........

and there is no hiking involved you drive to the scopes and can sit in the car and look just fine.

I am worried however that the person or persons mobility impared.....is tht due to age or illness. This is a place where it is not wise to bring any person not in top flight health.... it can cause serious problems like AMS or Pulmonary Edema/ Cerebral Edema.... that can, be life threatening. You need a clean bill of medical health in EVERY respect...

there will be snow.....maybe a lot and expect black ice too......even in the day.....

Thank you!

The person has mobility problems due to a brain tumor-- otherwise (or rather, before the tumor), he was in great health-- he is mid-30s and was a mountain climber and backbacker. No breathing or lung issues.

Re the snow/ driving....Even if there is snow, it will be drivable to the top? Do they plow the road or anything? Just want to gauge the chance of actually being able to get to the summit, to rent the 4x4 from Harpers, make the long drive, etc.

identifying rows