July 6, 2014 Halema`uma`u

Wouldn't be a trip to the Big Island without visiting Halema`uma`u, especially at night.  The crater lookout at the Jaggar Museum was packed!  Being that it was Fourth of July weekend Volcano National Park had park rangers lining up traffic and parked cars down the road leading to the lookout.  I've never seen the lookout so packed!  The vog made for a spectacular sunset.

Sunset illuminated clouds over Mauna Loa.

People were lined up along the lookout wall.

Pele put on quite a show!  Always such a beautiful sight.

Rest of the pics here.

July 4, 2014 Mauna Kea Summit

For July Fourth my Dad and I drove up to the summit of Mauna Kea. It was a beautiful day on the Big Island, with some high clouds and tons of blue sky and sunshine. My rental Jeep handled the unpaved road to the summit perfectly.

A few minutes after we got to the top, a Mini Cooper strolled up! It was followed a few minutes later by some tourists in a Ford Mustang and a couple rental Chevy sedans!

 

My Dad and I took a couple of selfies at the top overlooking the Keck Observatory and Haleakala.

 

Being nearly 14,000 feet high, the air is quite thin! Every movement is strained and we were both getting dizzy from altitude sickness. So we decided to attempt trekking to the summit, only a 200 yard trail.

We made it about halfway before reality set in. Time to turn around.

 

After catching our breath, we checked out the inside of the Keck Observatory.

We drove up to some radar dish looking things then made our way down the mountain.

Rest of the pics here.