Report from South Kona

Loaded up mid morning on Sunday , all the warm clothes we own a few other items and made a run up to the summit of Mauna Kea . Brought my one pair of long pants , the Stabos that I ordered from those guys in England that are made from recycled WWII army tents , it was fun to get to use them they are really cool . They show how long and well Hemp cloth lasts ! Made a thermos of Hot Chocolate for the top , chucked it all in the truck , a empty cooler , shovel just in case . Turned out to be a clear sunny , near windless day as we traveled up to the Saddle Road and started to gain more and more altitude . The Altimeter that I have been wanting to use on a voyage like this showed our steady acent up . First along and thru the rolling pastures of cattle ranch and on up past Cinder ones and the wide open spaces between the two massive Volcanic Peaks . First stop at Mauna Kea state park to change into warmer wear and get ready for the colder temps . Windy most of the time it was very still with the high altitude sun generally warm . Little gusts of breeze showing just how cold it can be with a wind chill . Driving just a little more the turn off to Mauna Kea came into view and off , up we went . The first stop at the Visitors center for some gum ( to help pop ears lol ) and a couple of sodas . I got a little pin to add to the ones on my Jeans Jacket that I get to wear on these and trips to the National Park . Onward and upward to the summit ! The road is paved most of the way , a good bit in the middle is still dirt and without 4 wheel drive its best to keep moving . The road then near the top becomes paved again and a little easier to travel on . Now passing 10,000 feet and getting higher the air is very thin and large areas of snow are on all the north facing slopes . Very very tripy with the large domes of the Observatories and patches of snow and very cold air . Often the wind is blowing and once your out of the car its a freezing brutal chill . For us it was a great day with little or no wind , still icy in the shadows of the big domes with a noticeable drop in temp . After walking around the giant Keck telescope , on one side the ocean of clouds to the East covering Hilo town . Looking south across to also massive Mauna Loa then around the other side and the top of Maui is visable the summit of Haleakala. ( more tomorrow )