Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [214]
Slowly, some national car-rental companies are relaxing their restrictions, so you don’t have to feel the outlaw to drive it, but always ask local offices about current policies (Click here for specifics).
Finally, Saddle Rd contains no services or gas, so fill up, check your spare tire, pack a lunch and don’t forget your camera.
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Day hikers do not need a permit, but if you would like to overnight at Mauna Loa Cabin (Click here), register the day before at the Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai′i Volcanoes National Park (Click here).
To reach the trailhead, take the unsigned Mauna Loa Observatory Rd near the 28-mile marker on Saddle Rd; it’S nearly opposite the Mauna Kea Access Rd and adjacent to Pu′u Huluhulu. The single-lane, 17.5-mile asphalt road is passable in a standard car but, except for the first 4 miles, it’S in terrible condition and full of blind curves. Allow an hour; the squiggled white line is to aid drivers in the fog. The road ends at a parking area just below the weather observatory at 11,150ft. There are no visitor facilities or bathrooms. From the observatory, the Mauna Loa Observatory Trail climbs up to the mountaintop.
Begin hiking early, preferably by 8am; you want to be off the mountain or descending if afternoon clouds roll in. The trail is marked by cairns, which disappear in the fog. If this happens, stop hiking; find shelter in one of several small tubes and hollows along the route until you can see again, even if this means waiting till morning.
It is nearly 4 miles to the trail junction with the Mauna Loa Trail. Allow three hours for this gradual ascent of nearly 2000ft. If it weren’t for the altitude, this would be a breeze. Instead, proceed slowly but steadily, keeping breaks short. If you feel the onset of altitude sickness (Click here), descend. About two hours along, you re-enter the national park, and the lava erupts in a rainbow of colors: sapphire, turquoise, silver, ochre, orange, gold, magenta.
Once at the trail junction, the majesty of the summit’S Moku′aweoweo Caldera overwhelms the imagination. Day hikers have two choices: proceed another 2.6 miles and three hours along the Summit Trail to the tippy-top at 13,677ft (visible in the distance), or explore the caldera itself by following the 2.1-mile Mauna Loa Cabin Trail. If you can stand not summiting, the second option is extremely interesting, leading to even grander caldera views and a vertiginous peek into the awesome depths of Lua Poholo.
Descending takes half as long as ascending: depending on how far you go, prepare for a seven- to 10-hour round-trip hike. Bring copious amounts of water, food, a flashlight and rain gear, and wear boots, a winter coat and a cap – it’S cold and windy year round.
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HAMAKUA COAST
On the Big Island, where do you find that lush tropical paradise pictured on magazine covers, the one untouched by the ironic ringtones of the 21st century? Come to the Hamakua Coast. From Waipi′o Valley to Hilo, the Big Island’S windward face tells a tale of rain. Innumerable streams gush down the flanks of Mauna Kea, carving deep ravines and tumbling over thousand-foot cliffs. Farmers still work ancient taro patches, and well-preserved sugar plantation towns recall the region’S economic heyday, when steam trains rumbled across the sweeping cantilevered bridges. These and other ghosts – from Kukuihaele’S legendary night marchers to Laupahoehoe schoolchildren – haunt this fertile region, where