Mauna Kea Report for September 2009

This is a short description of my hike to the summit of Mauna Kea on Monday, September 14, 2009. Travel by car via Saddle Road (Highway 200) to meet the Mauna Kea Observatory Access Road between Mile Marker 29 and Mile Marker 30. Saddle Road is narrow and rough for approximately the first seven miles on the Kona Side (West Side), but has been improved to U.S. Highway quality for the middle section of this road. Be sure to leave your Mauna Kea Registration Form in the trailhead registration box at the entrance of the visitor center prior to your departure. Access the trailhead on the Observatory Access Road by parking at the Ellison S. Onizuka Center and then walk up the Mauna Kea Obervatory Access Road approximately one tenth of a mile to meet the Humu'ula Trail (Mauna Kea Trail). This access point is on the uphill left hand side of the road and looks like an old dirt road; most of the trail up to the Pu'u Hau Kea and Lake Wai'au areas is marked with signs, cairns, and poles. When you reach the area near the Pu'u Hau Kea area, take the trail that winds around the left hand side of this geologic feature to meet the observatory road at the seven mile marker. After this point, you will need to follow the road to the eight mile marker and then access the summit via the obvious trail to the summit monument. I consider myself a slow climber, and this route took me five hours and twenty-four minutes to reach the summit; the temperature was approximately forty-one degrees with winds about twenty-five miles per hour. The descent is always a lot easier for me, and this took me two hours and twenty-five minutes. After completion, check back in with the rangers in the visitor center.