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.

I had a free week off in between jobs, so I visited my parents on the Big Island and squeezed in a couple of fun hikes.

Kaumana Caves

My first stop was Kaumana Caves which is a 15-20 minute drive from downtown Hilo.  The place has a sheltered picnic table, restrooms and drinking water. All the comforts a hiker can ask for.

Watch your step

Steep stairs descended into a mini-rain forest sprouting out of the breach of a 25 mile long lava tube that was created by an 1881 lava flow from Mauna Loa.

The right cave

I explored the smaller cave opening to the right side first.

Come to the dark side

Making my way down into the cave, the light soon left me, to be replaced by total darkness. Pitch black. Not a speck of light. Except for my headlamp.  

Got light?

The cave narrowed considerably at times, forcing me to duck and even crawl on all fours. I bumped my head more than once. On the solid lava ceiling. Ouch. 

Drip. drip. drip.

The constant dripping of water was my only company on this hike. Lava stalactites that were formed during the 1881 lava flow.

Grafitti!

Grafitti in the cave. Didn’t see no petroglyphs. Lighting was a problem. After stumbling in the semi-darkness for half an hour, I turned around.

The batcave!

I made my way to the larger cave opening on the left side.

Going down the rabbit hole

Appearances can be deceiving. The larger opening lead to a smaller opening.

Crawling is mandatory

I crawled under a ledge to start my second cave exploration.

Follow the lava tube

It was cool, literally, to be inside a pitch black lava tube, with only a headlamp to help navigate. It’s not just a hike, it’s an adventure.

Left or right?

Unlike the cave on the right, this one had sections with ceilings that looked at least 40′ high and even split lava tubes.

Time to turn back

Soon the cave floor became a maze of jagged and jumbled lava rocks, time for me to turn around. One could probably make a day of exploring the entire length of the caves in both directions. Just make sure you have backup on top of backup lights. Without lights, it would not be safe and fun getting out of there.

No rainbow?

I drove down the road to Wailuku River State Park for the easiest hike to a waterfall yet. Can’t even call it a hike. You park and Rainbow Falls is there, literally. No rainbows were present but at least the falls were gushing. Sometimes Mother Nature turns the waterfalls off due to lack of rain.  

Rainbow Falls

Rainbow Falls is also known as Waianuenue in Hawaiian. There is a trail by the sign that will take you to the top of the falls.

Wailuku River

There are another set of falls further upstream, known as Peepee Falls which feeds the famous pools known as Boiling Pots. Another hike for another day.

Top of the falls

Checking out the 80 foot drop. Now it was off to have an early dinner with my parents at Lava Rock Café. Try their Southern Fried Chicken. Tasty.

Pop trivia question. What is the highest mountain in the world? If you answered Mount Everest, try again. It’s Mauna Kea located on the Big Island in the Hawaiian Island chain. If you measure Mauna Kea from the bottom of the ocean, it rises a staggering 33,500 feet which towers over Mount Everest’s 29,029 feet. Yes, only 13,796 feet of the volcano protrudes from the Pacific Ocean; but it still holds the title. We flew into Hilo and piled into my father’s friends 4×4 which would take us to the top. We went over Saddle Road, once notorious for it’s bad conditions, now suprisingly smooth and straight in most places.

Onizuka Visitor Center

We got to the Onizuka Visitor Center which is located on the slopes at an elevation of 9,199 feet. After about 30 minutes of getting acclimatized to the high altitude, we set out for the summit.

Mauna Loa

Looking back at Mauna Loa, which is the world’s largest shield volcano and tops out at 13,679 feet. One day, I plan on hiking the historic Ainapo Trail to the summit of Mokuaweoweo.

Bringing home Xmas

We passed local residents shoveling snow into the back of their pickups to take home for the keiki ( children ) to play in, a holiday Hawaiian treat.

Mauna Kea Observatories

As we drove up the road, some of the observatories popped into sight. I believe they are from left to right; Maxwell, Gemini, Subaru and the Keck Observatories.

Submillimeter Arrays

We saw several snowboarders trudging up the snow covered slopes in search of that perfect “pineapple snow.” I believe there are several areas to ski/snowboard with colorful names such as Poi Bowl, Pele’s Parlor, Warrior’s Run, Alii Run and the King Kamehameha Run.

Panoramic view from the top

Click here to see the larger image taken from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.

Snowball fight?

The snow at the top of Mauna Kea was not fine like Matsumoto’s Shave Ice, but rather coarse and granular ice. The only things I forgot to do when I was up there was make a snowman and snow angel.