Hawai equals beaches, sun, volcanoes, lava, tourism, travel and more. The highest mountain in Hawaii, Mauna Kea, on the Big Island of Hawaii, is a world away from the tropical paradise below. The summit, which can only be reached in a 4WD vehicle, is often very cold, with snow in the winter months. The Mauna Kea Observatory is an active research facility, which welcomes tourists during daylight hours. Only expert hikers should attempt a climb to the summit on the six-mile trail, which rises to an altitude of 13,800 feet from the Visitor Information Station. Evening stargazing programs, held at the visitor center, which sits at around 9,200 feet, are popular with tourists and locals alike.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park encompasses 333,308 acres from the summit of Maunaloa to the sea. Discover 150 miles of hiking trails through volcanic craters, scalded deserts and rainforests, as well as a museum, petroglyphs and two active volcanoes: Maunaloa, which last erupted in 1984 and Kilauea which has been erupting since January 3, 1983. Steam vents plume from this massive crater, known as the home of Pele, the volcano goddess. In 2008, this crater was filled with a lake of lava that disappeared earlier this year. Seismic activity caused by the crater walls falling into itself created a much larger crater. In May 2018, the Halema?uma?u’s volume was about 70-78 million cubic yards. It is now about 1.2 billion cubic yards. The crater floor has dropped more than 1,600 ft. Great respect should be paid at this sacred site. Also worth noting is that higher elevation near the crater means that temperatures can drop fairly quickly. If you’re coming from the beach in shorts and t-shirt, be sure to pack some warmer items like a light jacket while you’re here.
Mauna Kea, which in Hawaiian means “White Mountain,” is the tallest of Hawaii’s volcanoes and in fact the tallest mountain in the world if measured from the floor of the ocean to its summit. It received its name, no doubt because snow is frequently seen on the summit even from the distant shores. The snow occasionally reaches several feet deep. The summit of Mauna Kea is home to numerous observatories. It is considered one of the best places to view the heavens from the surface of the planet. Several tour companies offer evening trips to the summit of Mauna Kea to view the sunset and then view the stars.
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Lo’ihi means “long one”, a reference to its elongate shape. For a 3-d image, check out the Hawaii Undersea Geological Observatory (HUGO) home. Right now, the summit of Lo’ihi is about 970 meters below sea level. It is growing on the lower flanks of its two neighbors, Kilauea and Mauna Loa, with its base at a depth of about 4000 meters below sea level, so you can say that Lo’ihi itself is about 3000 m high. We don’t really know when it will reach the surface or even if it will. There is an underwater volcano off the NW coast of the big island of Hawai’i named Mahukona, and there is debate about whether it ever grew above sea level, or died out prior to doing so. The most often-heard time required for Lo’ihi to reach sea level is about 10,000 years, but that is really only a guess. It might be 30,000 years for all we know. It is far enough away from the coastline of Hawai’i that I imagine that at first it will be a separate island when it breaks the surface. As it grows (and especially if Kilauea and Mauna Loa are still erupting) it will soon be joined to the island.