Thursday Feb 5, 2026
Hi All! We are back in Hilo, Hawaii today! We had a cool all day tour to the top of the highest mountain in the world. Nope, not Mount Everest, which is 29,032 feet high. We went to the summit of Mauna Kea on the big island which is 33,500 feet high!! But that height does include from the base of the ocean floor. The above ocean portion is 13,803 feet high.
Due to the high elevation, we had to do a 40 minute stop at the visitor center at 9,200 feet to acclimate our bodies to prevent altitude sickness. Luckily no one in our 10 person tour group got sick. Whew!
Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano but right across from it is Mauna Lua which is the world’s largest active volcano. Thank goodness it didn’t erupt while we were there!Mauna Kea is the tallest peak within 3,000 miles. So in essence it’s at the top of the Pacific Ocean. It is the most geographically isolated mountain in the world. Because of that it has many Observatories at the top since it’s above the cloud level and there’s no light pollution. At the summit, we could look across the ocean and see the island of Maui.
We also saw a Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) Antenna. It is one of 10 antennas spread across the United States that gather faint radio emissions from objects in space and correlates them. This antenna alone weighs 260 tons and has an 82 foot wide diameter.
We also saw the Gemini North telescope (Gemini South is in Chile) and between the two they provide exceptional, high-resolution imaging of the Northern sky for a multi-national partnership. In essence they explore the universe in depth. There were also many observatories there owned by other countries. Kind of like a United Nations of telescopes!
It is also the most holy place in the Hawaiin religion. No birds, trees or animals are at the top. Legend says the Hawaiin Gods made it inhospitable so that only Gods could live here.
Mauna Kea is symbolic of the Piko (umbilical cord) of the island-child, Hawaii, and that which connects the land to the heavens. Because of that, there is a lake within one of the volcanoes where woman bring the umbilical cord from their newborn baby to place it there to have the Gods bring blessings to their baby. (Nothing against the Hawaiin Gods, but that’s a little gross!).
We got back late so we just got ready for dinner. I’ll do another update tonight. Hope everyone’s having a great Thursday!
PS: It was very chilly and windy at the top of Mauna Kea so I had to break down and wear a coat (but still went with the shorts!). Lol
The Wandering Italian 