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This was recently posted by a fellow flyertalker, bocastephen on his recent experience going up to the Mauna Kea Summit
Driving To Mauna Kea Summit? Here Is The New Experience
I thought I would share a separate discussion regarding the drive up to Mauna Kea based on my own experience this past week - significantly different from all of the other drives I've taken over many years. There are now multiple rangers positioned at the exit of the visitor's center parking lot checking cars exiting, the road itself is closed at the visitor's center lot entrance, directing all cars into the lot.
1. You must have a true 4x4 - make/model doesn't matter, but it must be a true 4x4 with a 4LO gear option
2. You will enter the visitors center parking lot where you're required to acclimate for at least 30 minutes - and they will ask you to confirm and if they see you there for less than 30 minutes, ie you enter the lot and try to exit to the summit road, you'll be sent back
3. You must know how to shift into 4LO - and you'll be asked to demonstrate being able to do so, and have your car in 4LO gear before getting on the summit road
4. You'll be asked a series of questions about health, pregnancy, they will check the car for children, and you'll need to answer the questions to their satisfaction - and be told how to deal with sudden onset of altitude sickness
5. There are now two parking lots below the summit where you can stop on the way down for star gazing, but in everyone's opinion, the stars are clearer at the visitor's center - not sure if this is true, or they just want everyone off the summit and down to the visitor's center
6. On the way down, there is a mandatory brake check before you're allowed to proceed further down the Mauna Kea Access Rd beyond the visitor's center - if your brakes are hot, you'll be taken off the road to wait until they cool enough to proceed
7. The ranger will tell you not to take the last portion of the Humu’ula Trail to the very summit unless you are going there for religious reasons. Although not officially off limits, it's now strongly discouraged. For many years, walking to the top and watching sunset from what is the holiest site in all of Polynesia was how we completed our visit. While we have always been respectful of the site, and used it for quiet meditation and introspective thought, others were desecrating the site with rock piles, moving religious offerings, or creating other chaos - in fact, for the last few years of our visits, I was unable to have my own private time because I was so busy asking people to stop touching things, and be respectful - as that seems impossible without someone being posted there continuously, they now ask that no one go there, which is disappointing. So, because we under-estimated the cold, and didn't want to be "those people" going to the top and possibly encourage others to follow, we stayed down near the telescopes.
8. Watch your timing because there can be a backup of cars exiting the parking lot before sunset, and because everyone is getting about 3-5 minutes talking to a ranger, you might get stuck and miss the opportunity to go up - so get there earlier, assume at least 1hr of total time to get out of the parking lot and up to the summit, plus your 30-60 minutes of acclimation time and plan accordingly.
Also the old telescope setups at the visitor's center are gone, replaced with a once-monthly program with the new moon that is limited to 40 people, which sells out in less than a minute when released for booking.
So, that's the new reality of what to expect on the drive - the days of finding a Mustang convertible with the top down parked beside a telescope are long done, although the state does have a minivan shuttle, obviously not 4WD, that goes up and down with people and supplies - but it seems too many problems with visitors triggered the new crackdown. Hopefully they don't get stricter and force all visitors to take an organized tour.
Driving To Mauna Kea Summit? Here Is The New Experience
I thought I would share a separate discussion regarding the drive up to Mauna Kea based on my own experience this past week - significantly different from all of the other drives I've taken over many years. There are now multiple rangers positioned at the exit of the visitor's center parking lot checking cars exiting, the road itself is closed at the visitor's center lot entrance, directing all cars into the lot.
1. You must have a true 4x4 - make/model doesn't matter, but it must be a true 4x4 with a 4LO gear option
2. You will enter the visitors center parking lot where you're required to acclimate for at least 30 minutes - and they will ask you to confirm and if they see you there for less than 30 minutes, ie you enter the lot and try to exit to the summit road, you'll be sent back
3. You must know how to shift into 4LO - and you'll be asked to demonstrate being able to do so, and have your car in 4LO gear before getting on the summit road
4. You'll be asked a series of questions about health, pregnancy, they will check the car for children, and you'll need to answer the questions to their satisfaction - and be told how to deal with sudden onset of altitude sickness
5. There are now two parking lots below the summit where you can stop on the way down for star gazing, but in everyone's opinion, the stars are clearer at the visitor's center - not sure if this is true, or they just want everyone off the summit and down to the visitor's center
6. On the way down, there is a mandatory brake check before you're allowed to proceed further down the Mauna Kea Access Rd beyond the visitor's center - if your brakes are hot, you'll be taken off the road to wait until they cool enough to proceed
7. The ranger will tell you not to take the last portion of the Humu’ula Trail to the very summit unless you are going there for religious reasons. Although not officially off limits, it's now strongly discouraged. For many years, walking to the top and watching sunset from what is the holiest site in all of Polynesia was how we completed our visit. While we have always been respectful of the site, and used it for quiet meditation and introspective thought, others were desecrating the site with rock piles, moving religious offerings, or creating other chaos - in fact, for the last few years of our visits, I was unable to have my own private time because I was so busy asking people to stop touching things, and be respectful - as that seems impossible without someone being posted there continuously, they now ask that no one go there, which is disappointing. So, because we under-estimated the cold, and didn't want to be "those people" going to the top and possibly encourage others to follow, we stayed down near the telescopes.
8. Watch your timing because there can be a backup of cars exiting the parking lot before sunset, and because everyone is getting about 3-5 minutes talking to a ranger, you might get stuck and miss the opportunity to go up - so get there earlier, assume at least 1hr of total time to get out of the parking lot and up to the summit, plus your 30-60 minutes of acclimation time and plan accordingly.
Also the old telescope setups at the visitor's center are gone, replaced with a once-monthly program with the new moon that is limited to 40 people, which sells out in less than a minute when released for booking.
So, that's the new reality of what to expect on the drive - the days of finding a Mustang convertible with the top down parked beside a telescope are long done, although the state does have a minivan shuttle, obviously not 4WD, that goes up and down with people and supplies - but it seems too many problems with visitors triggered the new crackdown. Hopefully they don't get stricter and force all visitors to take an organized tour.