On top of the world / last day in Hawaii

Sadly, this was our last day in Hawaii. Once we got up, ate and packed up for the trip home, we headed out to tackle the highest mountain on the island, Mauna Kea. It is over 13,700 feet in elevation and has several world class observatories on top. It is one of the few places on earth that you can drive from sea level to almost 14,000 feet in a day. That also makes it tricky because you can get altitude sickness if you go up that quick.

The view of the mountaintop during the drive up

We loved these signs on the way up to the visitors center.

They have a visitors center that you stop at the 9,200 foot level that you can rest at for 30 minutes to make sure you aren’t going to get sick. We did so, weren’t sick, so we started to make our way further up the mountain.

We saw this white Bronco at the visitors center with the AWESOME license plate. We didn't get a picture at the time, but did at the top. We also thought the picture below of the Bronco driving was great.

After the visitors center, for the next five miles, it is a very steep gravel road. We were glad for the 4WD jeep at this point! We took it slow getting up there, but were rewarded with some great views at the top. And, yes, it was a little chilly at the top –probably around 45 degrees.

The top of Mauna Loa from the top of Mauna Kea

We went inside of one of the observatories and got to appreciate the sheer size of the telescopes and the mirrors. Very impressive.

The trip took longer than expected on the mountain, so we had to cut our other items a little short. On the way back into Hilo, we stopped at a waterfall, but that was about it. We ate lunch, picked up our luggage and headed to the airport.

We got our luggage into security with no issues this time and had good flights home. We had a great trip and look forward to the next time!