Mauna Kea, Akaka Falls and Honomu

Good Morning, white mountain.

We left early to ascend from sea level to 4207 m, because of the high possibility to get altitude sickness and thus planning breaks every now and then.

Even though there are trails, walking up there is not encouraged healthwise, also the land is sacred to natives, both very valid reasons not to hike here.

But the roadside stops make it easier to acclimatize.

Until we see the telescope park appear.

The Gemini Observatory is an astronomical observatory consisting of two 8.1-metre telescopes, Gemini North and Gemini South, which are located at two separate sites in Hawaii and Chile, respectively. The twin Gemini telescopes provide almost complete coverage of both the northern and southern skies.

Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope

Half our car got a bit sick and out of breath with flickering vision and all, so the triumph of being up there was cut short and we fled the summit as fast as we could lol.

Back down it was all good again, with just a bit of a lingering headache but we walked it away in the Akaka Falls State Park.

The park is so lush green and overgrown with vines of all kinds, very unreal.

After taking a short set of stairs, turn left and follow the paved pathway through amazing greenery and small waterfalls flowing into babbling streams.