The day after graduation, Derek and I hopped on a plane to the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawai’i. Needless to say, it was pretty darn awesome. Of course, the first part was all work (running a meeting with the fambly business), but then we did some super cool stuff. Don’t have pictures of most of it. These are just a few photos from the voyage to the top of Mauna Kea and the observatories.
This is one of the many pahoehoe lava flows on Hawai’i. It’s right off the Saddle Road between the two big volcanoes, and if you take the tour up Mauna Kea (which we did because they feed you, provide parkas, and answer all the questions you’d think to ask), you get to hop out of the bus and tramp around on this nifty basalt.
Two thirds of the way up Mauna Kea on the mostly uber-bumpy access road, you get this gorgeous view of a red cinder cone against all the clouds from the island’s tropical inversion patterns (also currently from Kilauea’s very active steam vent). A’a lava from Mauna Kea in the foreground, the eastern side of the island barely visible through the clouds behind the cinder cone.
Not quite at the actual top of Mauna Kea is a collection of domes and dishes that are part of the earth-based astronomical hot-spot in the world. It’s pretty damn awesome. The top of Mauna Kea, a sacred place for the Hawaiians, is in the background.
The sun setting from the mountain with three telescopes in silhouette (I think they’re Subaru and Keck twins from left to right). Out of frame are Hualalai and Haleakala peeking out of the clouds.
This is the shadow of Mauna Kea on the clouds to the east as the sun set. Major wow.
Mom, dad, me, and Derek in front of the Gemini North telescope at twilight. Those parkas were definitely necessary. It’s chilly at 13,000 feet, but the whole experience was so cool that it didn’t matter a bit.
More to come!
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