2010-08-03 Big Island
My trip to Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea is about 14.000 feet tall (4.3 km), 40 deg F cooler than Hilo and the air pressure is 40% lower than at sea level, which means that you should do at least one stop on your way up in order to accustom yourself to the thin air. You actually notice that your brain is only partially working - or at least I noticed.
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Natural umbrellas, quite convenient - though difficult to relocate.
Rainbow Falls
Some girls discovered flip-flops as their new hiking boots and climbed on top of the falls
Same falls, this time looking down.
A Banyon tree
They were filming some movie. Notice the disparity in clothing? It was actually pretty cold. :-)
Compare this to two pictures above... altitude seems to be bad for plants. :-)
Observatory on top of Mauna Kea
Star gazing at the visitor center. They had plenty of telescopes for use by visitors. You could even see the rings of Saturn with these telescopes.
