We had lofty intentions on flying to the Big Island but instead came away being well grounded with good intentions and fun times. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

HA 132

I had overslept and had to catch a later flight to join Aida, Lilyn, Narissa and Quan in the old sugar town of Hilo. We had breakfast at the highly recommended Café 100 and ate our food in the back of our truck.

Mauna Kea Access Road

Stopping at the reminders of the TMT protests that had shut down the mountain a few years back. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Mauna Kea Visitor Center

Waiting for the bathrooms to get cleaned at 9,200′ elevation. There is now a Park Ranger checkpoint that will only allow 4×4 vehicles to continue to the summit. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Mauna Kea Access Road

Looking to see how far we had gained in elevation as we struggled to stay in the zipper lane going up without getting run off the road by a non-observant heavy machine operator.

Mauna Kea Access Road

Testing out my high altitude hurdling abilities. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Mauna Kea Observatories

Closer. Closer. Closer. Photos by Grant Matsushige.

Mauna Kea Observatories

Quan with our eye in the sky cameraman.

Mauna Kea Observatories

Enjoying the views from the tallest mountain on Earth, if measured from base to peak, it tops out at over 33,500′. Or one can settle for the more commonly accepted elevation of 13,803′. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Lake Waiau Trail

Let’s take our gender group photo! Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Lake Waiau Trail

Setting foot on the volcanic terrain that was to be a small test to see how the group would fare at high elevation.

Lake Waiau Trail

Leaving the 13 observatories behind us. We’ll be back. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Lake Waiau Trail

Aida above the clouds. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Lake Waiau Trail

Looking down at the Humu’ula Trail as it winds its way through the cinder cone dotted landscape. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Lake Waiau Trail

Descending down to one of the highest lakes in the country. Photo by Aida Gordon.

Lake Waiau Trail

The heart shaped lake is located inside the Pu’u Waiau cinder cone. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Lake Waiau

The clouds briefly drifted across the perched body of water at 13,020′ elevation. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Lake Waiau

The alpine lake surface area fluctuates between 5,000 to 7,000 square meters and is fed by rainfall and snowmelt. The waters are retained by what many think are a combination of permafrost and compressed ash layers.

Lake Waiau Waterfall

A rare sighting of the Thai Yellow Curry Fall. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Lake Waiau

Group photo from across the far side of the lake. Can you see the group for the volcanic rocks?

Lake Waiau

Looking across the swirling waters to the other side. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Lake Waiau Trail

Leaving the sacred waters behind us as we hiked back up the hill. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Lake Waiau Trail

Of all the places to park, we blocked the porta potties. We won’t do it again. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

GPS Tracks

Our hike to this sacred body of water covered less than two miles. We drove down the mountain where we picked up Quan’s cousins truck and got Matt at the airport and had dinner at Tetsumen. My first choice was not available. Shades of Greek Marina.

Mauna Loa Road

Somebody needs to get with the program of looking sad as our plan of staging a truck at the Mauna Loa Lookout had been stopped dead in its tracks due to a locked gate. Plans B, C and D were being tossed around for consideration. Matt was still hedging on Plan A.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Enjoying the open sauna fed by bills and coins. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Kilauea Millitary Camp

Checking into Cabin #29 which was going to be the future home of my GoPro, played Jan Ken Po to determine who would get the couch or the beds and Narissa gave Matt advice as to what hole she wanted her little friend in.

Crater Rim Trail

We went for a late night stroll hoping to catch some lava fireworks and caught red tinted steam instead.

Crater Rim Trail

The group peering into Kilauea Caldera. Photo by Lilyn Avendano.

Crater Rim Trail

Keeping warm over one of numerous steam cracks in the ground.

Crater Rim Trail

Matt checking out another steam vent further down the trail.

Crater Rim Trail

Taking an impromptu astronomy class.

All pau

To all a good night and don’t let the coqui frogs bite. Photo by Matt Vidaurri.

Note: I have been made aware that some hikers have been using my blog as a hiking guide and getting lost on the trails. Please note that this blog was made to document the hike for the crew(s) that did it. That is why some of my comments will seem to have no relevance or meaning to anybody outside of the crew(s) that hiked that trail. My blog was never meant as a hiking guide, so please do not treat it as such. If you find inspiration and entertainment from these hikes, that is more than enough. If you plan on replicating these hikes, do so in the knowledge that you should do your own research accordingly as trail conditions, access, legalities and so forth are constantly in flux. What was current today is most likely yesterdays news. Please be prepared to accept any risks and responsibilities on your own as you should know your own limitations, experience and abilities before you even set foot on a trail, as even the “simplest” or “easiest” of trails can present potential pitfalls for even the most “experienced” hikers.

We woke up refreshed after sleeping at a lower altitude and had breakfast at the Crater Rim Café. Subsidized eating always hits the spot.

KMC

Our stomachs full, we returned back to cabin #23 and enjoyed the crisp morning air and flowering lehua trees.

Mauna Loa Road

Matt and I drove up the tree lined road to recover his car, while everybody else got a few extra hours to pack and rest.

Mauna Loa Trailhead

The end of the road was absent of any cars or hikers.

Ke Amoku Flow

Passing through an old lava flow on our way down, that dates back before 1790 at 5,630′ elevation.

Mauna Kea Road

We drove back to KMC and swapped out cars as Matt who was still suffering from altitude sickness decided to stay and enjoy the lower elevation, while the rest of us planned to drive up to the summit of Mauna Kea and visit Lake Waiau, which at 13,020′ is the highest lake in the country.

Mauna Kea Road

Driving up the winding road which would have taken us from sea to summit in less than two hours, except we didn’t have a full tank of gas. The devil is always in the details.

Hale Pohaku

Marathon training at 9,300′ elevation.

Onizuka Center for International Astronomy

We took our group photo in the nippy air and decided to check out waterfalls since our summit drive got scrubbed.

Saddle Road

Going back down the road with rolling fog and driving rain.

Saddle Road

I think somebody wanted to continue their training and run back to Hilo.

Pe‘epe‘e Falls

We drove down to Hilo and stopped at our first waterfall. Peering around the lava rock that partially obscures the hidden falls. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla

Pe‘epe‘e Falls

Cisco standing in front of the 60’plus waterfalls that were formed as a result of lava flows from Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea that merged back in the day.

Boiling Pots

Wailuku River feeding the terraced pools that were just simmering today.

Rainbow Falls

We pulled into the parking lot for our second waterfall and walked past DLNR police questioning a truck of hippies for selling coconuts on state property. I guess no coconut water and rainbow today. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Wailuku River State Park

Bending over backwards to get that photo. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Home of Hina

Cisco standing over the cavernous lava cave as the falls flow over it. Photo by Quan Haberstroh.

Waianuenue Falls

Watching the 80′ falls as it plunged into the large pool. Photo by Cisco Quintanilla.

Rainbow Falls Connection

Got lavosh? Photo by Cisco Quintanilla

Akaka Falls State Park

Kaamaina’s get in free at the state park.

National tree of India

Monkey see, monkey do.

Banyan or Banian tree

You’re too big! Somebody was here in spirit. We went down the lower part of the park to check out the 300′ Kahuna Falls, but it was either dry or not visible to our naked eyes. Photo by Analyn Baliscao.

Akaka Falls

Go for Broke photo with the 442′ waterfall that is fed by Kolekole Stream.

Kitty litter

We didn’t see any of the endemic ‘o’opu ‘alamo’o (goby) or ‘opaekala’ole (shrimp), but we did run across a litter of feral kittens.

All pau

Met up with Matt at the end of the day at Saucy Dogs for our last meal on the Big Island. The flight back home was interrupted by the attempted smuggling of cans of Vienna sausage. Why not spam? Great week spent adventuring with good friends.

Note: I have been made aware that some hikers have been using my blog as a hiking guide and getting lost on the trails. Please note that this blog was made to document the hike for the crew(s) that did it. That is why some of my comments will seem to have no relevance or meaning to anybody outside of the crew(s) that hiked that trail. My blog was never meant as a hiking guide, so please do not treat it as such. If you find inspiration and entertainment from these hikes, that is more than enough. If you plan on replicating these hikes, do so in the knowledge that you should do your own research accordingly as trail conditions, access, legalities and so forth are constantly in flux. What was current today is most likely yesterdays news. Please be prepared to accept any risks and responsibilities on your own as you should know your own limitations, experience and abilities before you even set foot on a trail, as even the “simplest” or “easiest” of trails can present potential pitfalls for even the most “experienced” hikers.