Kissing a cloud at 10,000 feet

So I’m actually going to condense the second two posts into one because I feel strange spending this much time in McDonald’s.

I will never forget Volcanoes National Park. It’s like no other place I’ve ever been. The fact that such a different place is so close to South Point is evidence for how fantastically diverse the island is. Of the 13 recognized climate zones in the world, the tiny island of Hawaii has 8 of them. 

So here’s the 411 on Hawaii: there are two 13,000+ foot mountains on the island. Mauna Kea,  White Mountain, is at 13, 796 feet with a road that can be driven all the way to the summit. 13 nations have obscenely expensive astronomical observatories at the summit because Hawaii is one of the least light-polluted places in the world. Mauna Loa, Long Mountain, rises to 13, 667 feet above sea level. It’s an active volcano that last erupted in 1984. It’s also the most massive mountain in the world, with 18,000 cubic miles of rock that rises 56,000 feet from the ocean floor to the summit.

One of my goals in coming to Hawaii was to summit Mauna Loa. I’ve never done much high altitude heavy exertion, but I thought I’d give it a shot. I really just wanted to spend one high altitude night to see the stars.

Mauna Loa is called a shield volcano, I’m guessing because it looks like a shield that’s been laid down. The slopes of the mountain never incline more than 12 degrees. But God, is a BIG MOUNTAIN. The trailhead started at 3900 feet and wound for 19 miles to a cabin at 10000 feet and then 10 more miles to the cabin at the summit. It’s a backcountry trail so there was nobody there.

I didn’t make it to the summit. And it wasn’t just the altitude that did me in, though that was a big factor. I made it to the cabin at 10,000 feet and the solitude was just overwhelming. There was no other human for 20 miles and 6000 vertical feet in any direction. As awesome as that sounds in words, the reality of it was frightening. I’ve never been that isolated before. I wasn’t afraid of getting hurt or anything. I guess it was a kind of nameless fear whispering into my head. If I had continued for the next 10 hour haul to the summit, I would have had to spend 3 more days in that kind of solitude. And I honestly just didn’t want to.

Mauna Loa has a very indistinct summit

The cabin was really nice though. There were random scribbles all over it from everyone who had been there since it was built in the sixties. And, of course, I found “Ann Arbor blows. Go Bucks” written on the door. There was also writing from someone who had apparently died of hypoxia in the cabin and was found days later. That was scary. I didn’t mind descending down to civilization the next day.

I came back to the front country of the park and hiked a few awesome trails along the edge of craters and actually along the floor of one. Volcanoes National Park is my favorite because everything is free! Camping, backcountry permit, admission (if you try hard enough). I spent 3 days there before hitchhiking to Hilo, where I am now.

I’m taking one day off from hiking and what not to chill out. Then I’m heading over to Waipio Valley on the north side of the island for a final backpacking adventure. Then it’s off to Kauai for the second half of the Hawaiian excursion. The Big Island is the youngest Hawaiian island and Kauai the oldest so I’m excited to see the difference millions of years make on a landscape.

Peace out.

Mauna Loa has a very indistinct summit