Mauna Kea, HI

State High Point
Hiked: 7/5/2021
Distance: Drive up
Summit Elevation: 13796'
Prominence: 13796'
Elevation Gain: 0'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0
Round trip time: 7 hours
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: $209/person by SuperVacation Hawaii Tours
Difficulty: Easy

Mauna Kea is a massive shield volcano, the Hawaii state high point, and also the 2nd most prominent peak in the United States after Denali. Part of the mountain trivia is the base starts over 16000' below the ocean, so it would be higher than Everest if measured from the base. Leisa and I booked a stargazing tour on Mauna Kea, often listed as one of the must dos on the Big Island. Our tour operator was SuperVacation Hawaii. Our group was about 30 people split between two large 4x4 vans. After picking us up, we rode to the Mauna Kea visitor center at 9200'. We stopped there for 45 minutes to allow people to acclimatize before heading to the summit. We couldn't go inside the visitor center because there was a 5.5 earthquake earlier in the day that knocked out their power. We had packed sandwiches and guzzled water during the wait.

Above the visitor center, the paved road ends and a somewhat rough dirt road begins. The road switchbacks up to about 12500' then it becomes paved again. The story we were told is that the upper road was paved to reduce dust in the air that interferes with the array of astronomical telescopes on the summit. There are no fewer than 10 high powered telescopes on top. Some run by universities, some by NASA. The one owned by CalTech is being dismantled. With so little light polution, it is an ideal location for telescopes. We arrived about 30 minutes before sunset which made for some great photos. It was 85F on the beach and 39F on Mauna Kea. We could feel the thin air, but didn't develop any AMS symptoms. This set Leisa's high point record. I was a little surprised that no one in our group got sick.

The true summit is on a section of the rim about 50' higher than the paved part of the rim. We we warned by the tour operator that it was illegal to visit the sacred true summit and that it carried a hefty fine. There were about 100 people on the summit including the people from our tour, but the summit was vast and not crowded. There was also a sign that requested visitors not touch the summit. To be honest, if we had driven up ourselves and were not part of a group, I would have made the short walk to the true summit. We were only on top for about 45 minutes before we descended to 12300'. We pulled onto a spur road and set up a high powered telescope for stargazing. The operator was knowledgeable about all the constellations and we got close up looks at Venus, the Jewel Box Galaxy, and Alpha Centauri. It was pretty spectacular.

Mauna Kea from our resort, about 45 miles away

Shadow and true summit right

Haleakala above the clouds at 10023' on Maui

A few stars were out
After we got back, I did some research on the summit and found mixed results about it being considered sacred by the locals. Lake Wai'au is a small lake just below the summit, and it is considered sacred. The locals throw umbilical cords into it so their babies gain the strength of the mountain (tip to not drink from it). I could not find anything about a fine for visiting the summit from either the state or national park service. Maybe the fine only applies to tour operators. We were told not to visit by the operator and the peer pressure worked.