Even Later the Same Day....

After our amazing flight over the volcano and return to Hilo Airport - we started to make our way home to the other side of the island.

On the way we re-traced our journey over Saddle Road which climbs high up the mountain or actually, the sleeping volcano Mauna Kea.

Our plans had been to go to the top of this mountain sometime during the holiday and watch the sunset - as all the guidebooks have said it is an unforgettable sight.

However Mauna Kea is 13,796 feet above sea level and although Saddle Road climbs high - it is only about 6,000 feet at the point where the turn off is for the top of the mountain. So there are still several miles and 8,000 feet to climb after turning off the main highway.

As we were passing at around 6pm - we made a hasty decision to try and get to the top by sunset (usually around 7pm) - perhaps not the wisest decisions we made this week!

At 14,000 feet the air is very thin and it is very common to get altitude sickness. The recommendation is to drive up to the Rangers Station and Observatory which is at 9,000 feet - stay for an hour or so to acclimatise and then drive the next 7 miles to the top (which is treacherous winding dirt track road for 5 of those miles).

However the sun was setting and Norman decided to push on, and on, and on.

We made it to the top wearing the same t-shirts and shorts that had kept us cool during the day when we had temperatures in the high 80's F - but at the top of the mountain it was FREEZING!

We made it in time to see the sunset but soon after decided to descend to the Rangers Station to do our stargazing. It was extremely difficult to breathe at the top of the mountain - and the last thing I wanted was altitude sickness driving down a mountain in the dark!

Because of its high altitude, thin and clean air, and great distance from urban areas, the summit of Mauna Kea is an idea place for sky watching and star gazing. In fact, this mountain is home to the world's most powerful telescopes and astronomical observatories, as you can see from these pictures.

Another interesting fact about Mauna Kea is that when measured from it's actual base (which of course is on the Pacific Ocean floor) it is in fact the highest mountain in the world - 33,476 feet from top to bottom, making it higher than Everest by over 3,000 feet.

So you could say we were literally on top of the world (in t-shirt and shorts!)

The view of course was spectacular as hopefully you can see here.