The Summit Of Mauna Kea Is An Otherworldly Destination On Hawaii Island
By Megan Shute|Published April 10, 2020
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
The Hawaiian archipelago was created millions of years ago when underwater volcanoes emerged from the ocean’s surface. Home to approximately 20 volcanoes ranging in age from 400,000 years to 5.1 million years, the landscapes formed by these volcanoes will often make you feel as though you’ve entered another world. And on Hawaii Island, the tallest mountain in the state — Mauna Kea — will immediately transport you to the moon, according to National Geographic. Let’s take a look, shall we?
The highest point in the entire Aloha State, Mauna Kea measures in at 13,796 feet above sea level. When measured from its oceanic base deep in the vast Pacific, however, the mountain measures in at more than 33,000 feet tall — higher than Mount Everest!
At approximately one million years old, Mauna Kea passed the most active shield volcano stage hundreds of thousands of years ago. The volcano last erupted 4,000 to 6,000 years ago and is now considered dormant.
In modern times, the summit area of Mauna Kea is unlike anything you’ll find elsewhere across the Hawaiian Islands — and even the world. Indeed, this volcanic landscape looks as though it was inspired by the moon or ripped from the screen of your favorite alien movie.
Lying above the tree line and primarily consists of lava rock and alpine tundra, growth is restricted by extremely cold temperatures, a short growing season, little rainfall, and snow during the winter months.
Visitors will discover bright red dirt, cinder cones, jagged lava formations, and so much more — all reminiscent of another planet entirely. Astronauts practiced their moonwalks here in the 1960s and the famous Buzz Aldrin once wrote that “of all the places on Earth where we trained, the Big Island most felt like the moon.”
Speaking of other worlds, Mauna Kea is known as one of the best places in the Aloha State to do a little stargazing. The Mauna Kea Observatories are used for scientific research across the electromagnetic spectrum; it is the largest facility of its kind in the world and is home to thirteen telescopes funded by eleven countries.
In Hawaiian mythology, the peaks of Hawaii Island are sacred, and Mauna Kea is considered to be the most sacred; an ancient law mandated that only high ranking ali’i could visit the summit. Luckily, today, anyone can — and should — visit the summit of Mauna Kea.
