Two Volcanoes – Mauna Kea & Mauna Loa
My second to last day on the island was spent checking off one final box on my list. While I had driven and explored the entire circumference of the island along the roughly 200 miles of highway that circumnavigate the island, I had failed to drive the 50 miles of highway that crosses between two of the three volcanoes that make up the island; Mauna Kea to the north and Mauna Loa in the center. Both stand over 13,000 feet tall with Mauna Kea having just a few feet over Mauna Loa to claim the highest point on the island.
A 4wd road allows access to the top of Kauna Kea, which made it inaccessible to me, but Mauna Loa has a 18-mile paved road leading to it’s 11,000 foot observatory, offering a most spectacular view of Mauna Kea just a few miles away. Never in my life have I gone from sea-level to 11,000 feet in such a short period of time (about 1 hour), and even though I am accustomed to living at 5,000 feet and hiking at 10-11,000 feet regularly (a 6,000 foot transition), my body could not deal with the change that an 11,000 foot transition had for me. I was only just able to snap a few pictures before having to drive back down to avoid the risk of passing out up there all by myself.
The view of Mauna Kea from the top of Mauna Loa.
Tim, Your visit of the Big Island with the pictures brings back alot of memories for me. I went years ago and put 1000 miles on my rental car. Of all the islands there this was my favorite island. I follow your blog all the time and enjoy it very much.
I too put just over 1000 miles on the rental, even through the road around the entire island is less than 200 miles.
Tim,
Did you drive the road that goes through the center of the Island?
Only to the top to access the volcanoes. I did not go all the way through from Kona to Hilo via that road.