| We decided to take a ride up Mauna Loa as far as we could go from the south side, having already approached Mauna Loa from the north (yellow line). The road on the south side ends at an elevation of 6662 ft. There is a hiking trail that leads to the top (13,681 ft.) which is 20 miles long. If we hike to the top, it will be from the north side, which is only a 6 mile walk! Apparently, Mauna Loa isn't the same attraction as Mauna Kea because there are no roads that go to the top and the observatory is gated off to visitors. I don't know why. Maybe they're doing something secret with UFOs or something up there! After we went up Mauna Loa we decided, since we were in the neighborhood to visit some of the features of Kilauea that we hadn't seen yet: the Kilauea Iki crater, and the Hilina Pali. |
| Here's a good map of Kilauea and vicinity |
| This sign's got all the info on the trail to the top and stuff so I'll let it tell the story. |
| This is looking back on Kilauea from our position on the side of Mauna Loa at an elevation of 6660 feet. Kilauea is around 4000 feet tall. |
| If you look really close, you can see the Jagger Museum (left arrow) and the edge of the Kilauea Caldera (right arrow) |
| This is a map of the location of the Kilauea Iki crater. I realized we'd been going by this thing over and over again and never took a look. So now was the time. It is the scene of a fairly famous eruption at the end of 1959. You can learn more about it by going to The 1959 Eruption. |
| Looking down into the crater from the Kilauea Iki Lookout. It was a rainy, hazy day and the low sun on the western horizon diffused the light a lot. |
| Looking down into the crater from the Pu'u Puai Overlook. The light's much better at this angle. Wait a minute, is that people down there? |
| And what have we here? A fine rainbow! Maybe we if I zoom in enough, I'll be able to see the pot of gold at the end of it. |
| Nope. Shucks! I sure could use a pot of gold right about now. I wonder if those people down there are even aware of how close they are to getting rich! |
| Here's a shot of Mauna Loa as we drive out the Hilina Pali road. As you can see, it's so damned big, it hardly looks like much of anything when in fact it is the largest by volume volcano in the world. By the time we got to the end of the road, it was too dark to take any pictures so you don't get to see what's there! |
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Photos 2, page 10
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| August 5, 2006 |
Mauna Loa and Kilauea
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