Aloha Day 5

We started the day off by So today we went to see Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in the world, measured from bottom (under the ocean) to summit. We started in Kona, boarded a passenger van, and drove up to the visitor's center. Our guide, whose name I don't remember because he looked so much like a guy I went to junior and high school with, told us about the different land formations the volcanoes made, the story behind Parker Ranch, and a lot of the history of the area. We ate dinner at the visitor's center, then donned our parkas and gloves that our guide gave us. It was very cold at the summit! During the winter there is snow at the summit.

Here is a view of some of the land that shows the lava flow from one of the last eruptions.

Here are a few of the observatories near the top of the summit. They are used and operated by different countries and universities.

Wow, don't I look lovely? I wore a long sleeve t-shirt, a sweat shirt, the parka and the gloves they provided, and it was still cold! The wind was so strong up at the summit that you couldn't walk straight up. You leaned at about a 15 - 20 degree angle. It was pretty funny to watch other people walk that way!

Here's Kent all bundled up. He had on a long sleeve shirt, parka, gloves and hat. Oh, we had to wear our sunglasses too because we were so high up that the sun would have burned our eyes without them.

This is a picture of the sunset above the clouds from the summit of Mauna Kea. After sunset we drove down the mountain a bit to set up a telescope and look at stars, constellations, Jupiter, nebulas and the moon. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and I saw a lot of things that I have never seen before. We also saw the moon rise above the clouds. It lit up the sky so much from our vantage point. We were unable to see some of the things afterwards because it was so bright. After we saw everything we drank hot chocolate, then went back to Kona. I would highly recommend this for anyone who hasn't done it before. It's very interesting, and you learn a lot!