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Pics from Mauna Loa climb, HI, 3 Feb

Posted by free.ranger (A) on February 22, 2017 at 16:06:23

I've tried a couple of times to see this summit caldera, one of the most awesome geologic views I can think of. These are from a series of photos taken on the climb. I likely won't be doing it again; closing in on 72 years of age is looking at dimishing enthusiasm. Only two ways to see it -- climb up or fly over it, if you can charter someone to do the flying. Winds and weather are treacherous up there. Chopper and plane tours won't go up.

My first 2 attempts fell short because of bad planning, not really knowing what a bitch climbing a volcano is. This time, all I needed to know was known; just do the thing. A 4 am start in the dark got me to the trailhead at 6:30 am to see the sunrise on Mauna Kea across the saddle (this is the big island). I got back down as the sun was setting. At this lattitude, and on black rock, when the light is gone, you are done walking, finished or not. I was a bit panicked trying to finish up.

The route is called a "trail", but that is just cruel. This is an open, fully exposed crawl over sharp lava flows for 12 miles, 6 up, 6 down. The route is marked by rock cairns piled up at line of sight intervals, so frequent stops (as if I wouldn't) were needed to spot the next up.

The caldera is an open pool of solidified (for now) lava, 2 to 2 1/2 miles long, 1 to 1 1/2 miles wide, sitting above 13,000 ft elev. Recent historic eruptions seem to alternate between Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The true summit is the high point on the rim, 13, 677 ft. Nothing lives on these slopes, not a bird or bug, not a leaf or blade. This is black lava rock, with few variations of color according to chemistry.

From the top down:
- Overview of the caldera as seen from the north rim.
- Looking across the caldera pool surface at above 13,000 ft. True summit is seen at left at 13,677 ft, another 2.3 miles across jagged lava flows exiting the pool.
- NOAA Atmospheric Observatory on Mauna Loa slope at approx 11,000 ft. These folks take periodic air samples to archive for future studies. They analyze air for chemistry and particulates, among other tasks. Not to be confused with the astronomy scopes over on Mauna Kea.
- Mauna Kea and the NOAA Atmospheric Observatory.
- Sunrise on Mauna Kea, 6:30 am.
- Typical surface flows along "trail".
- Olivine lava surfacee deposit.
- The olivine garden; green cinder lava fallen on surface flows.
- Iron-compounded and olivine lava near 13,000 ft.
- An open lava tube (lava pipe) with fractured surface flow; iron-compounded lava.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Kimber Kable

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