Mauna Kea – the highest mountain in Hawaii – to see or not to see ...

The day actually started off quite well. We had our traditional American breakfast with bagels, provolone cheese, and roasted turkey, better known as wet sausage, and then ventured a look outside. Let’s see what it looks like here during the day.

A really beautiful property here in Kahena. Everything is very much connected to nature. Massive trees and palms, tropical plants we didn’t know growing in beautiful colors, and various shades of green in the outdoor area. Here and there an orchid bloomed on the tree.

The main house is primarily built of wood. The area where our apartment is located, the Palm Suite, was added to the main house and had a wall made of exposed lava stones. We’ll surely enjoy our four days here.

After breakfast, we set off. We wanted to drop off our rental car in Hilo and get another rental car, an SUV, which would be better suited for the journey to the summit of Mauna Kea, which at over 4000 meters and over gravel roads, could be challenging.

So off to Mauna Kea. The travel guide indicated that to acclimatize, you should spend about 30 minutes at the station located at almost 3000 meters to get used to the thin air. We did that. Afterwards, we wanted to attempt the ascent. At the access road to the summit, a ranger was standing next to his cabin. Next to him was a sign stating that only all-wheel-drive vehicles were allowed to drive up. Nevertheless, we drove up to the ranger, as the travel guide, which was from 2016 and not among the oldest, and also on the internet, it was noted that cars without 4-wheel drive and vehicles that were not SUVs had indeed been spotted there.

We, however, had an SUV, a brand new one even, which had just 10 miles on the clock, with new tires, functioning brakes, and a strong engine. The Mister Ranger, however, seemed to be unwilling to deviate from the rule that only all-wheel-drive vehicles could go up today. He checked the tires and almost crawled under the car to tell us that we did not have the appropriate drive (well, mentally we certainly did) and therefore would not be allowed to drive to the summit.

We really had no choice but to drive back to the parking lot.

Of course, we were very disappointed, especially since we did not get any kind of compensatory view at the altitude of 3000 meters where we found ourselves. We then walked a little along a trail, but that didn’t really compensate either.

We decided then to drive towards the sea and explore the landscape a bit. It was very diverse. Often it looked like in the Eifel, other areas were richly covered with really tall trees, various kinds of palms, and much more.

On the routes we had driven so far, however, we noticed that there were practically no viewpoints where tourists could stop to enjoy the view. Whether there were huge lava fields or along the coastal road. It couldn’t have been due to a lack of tourists …

After the beautiful Waipio Lookout, we also went to Kahuna and Akaka Falls and walked around there. The waterfalls were not the main attraction here. It was more the flora, as towering bamboo plants and other densely growing plants, which we usually can only admire in garden centers, stood, grew, and bloomed in abundance. A very beautiful sight.

On the way back, we stopped by Walmart for dinner and breakfast for the next day. Before it got completely dark, we were back home.