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| dmiki | An exhausting day  Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2007 | |
| Hitchhiking from Hilo I got to the visitor center around noon - a pretty late start. The hike up was more tiring than I had anticipated. There was quite a bit of wind along the route. Made the short detour to the lake - it is pretty amazing how it stays there with so little precipitation and the circumstances. Strolled around the observatories for a while. On the way down hiked down the road (all cars and vans were going up - no rides for me...) and watched the sunset from there. Met only one other hiker all day. Got to see my first moonbow as well as Jupiter and its moons from the visitor center telescopes - cool! Was very difficult to get a ride back to Hilo in the dark. (Update Mar 20, 2008) The Lonely Planet 'Hiking in Hawaii' says the trail is 12 miles (~20 km) / 7-9 hours. I left the Onizuka visitor center around noon and was back not long after sunset (probably summited 2-3 hours before sunset) (was quite slow on the way up and spent time looking around here and there, sitting down and catching my breath, walking around the telescopes). I would recommend starting out much earlier, possibly enjoying sunset from the summit and getting a lift down by somebody. The visitor center has handouts/maps of the trail and the Lonely Planet is also handy (especially if you want to do more hiking in Hawaii). I don't recall the trail being too steep, but definitely (and surprisingly) tiring (usually I have no problem with acclimatisation, but this time was taxing). If my memory serves me right and I can count, you will probably need around 5 hours to summit. | |
| Posted Jul 11, 2007 7:15 am | ||
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Big Island Peaks