Mauna Kea by foot / Gravir Mauna Kea

2nd of April

That was decided. Nora, Nele (two German teenagers we had met at our hostel in Hilo) Ben and I would wake up at 5am, be at 6:45 at the visitor centre car park and then would make our way up to Mona Kea summit. That also was where the World's most powerful telescopes were located.

At our arrival, the sky was beautifully clear. But, despite the fact we were super early on site, tens and tens of cars were already there. All these people could not decide to do that hike. Yes, indeed. It was actually a protest and it felt like circle by a lot of police forces. A protest against the build of a new astronomical site at the summit of the size of a stadium. And here is the controversy... Shall humans destroy a sacred site for science sake? Ben and I disagree on that point. So, we started the hike at 7:15am while overhearing the protest or Hawaiian chants down below.

The hike up has been awful. I suffered a lot, I was out of breath, my legs were heavy, I was actually hiking my way up in slow motion. Was it due to my lack of fitness or about the altitude (the summit is at 4 205 meters)? My guess is that was both. We finished our trek and rested at the KECK twin telescope. It was really chilly up there and gloves were welcome. Luckily on the way down (We're exhausted) Nora stopped a 4x4 car, the only one that could take us all, the 4 of us squeezed at the back and they brought us down in 20 mins only while hiked for 6 hours counting resting time. Ultimately, we forgot about our pain and felt a great sense of achievement. Mauna Kea is the volcano that created the Big Island, it is also the tallest mountain on Earth (counting what's underwater) it is holy and also maybe the key to have a better understanding of the universe. 

Apres une premiere prospection la veille et un peu de recherche sur le Net, il n'y avait pas 36 solutions: pour atteindre le sommet de Mauna Kea sans 4x4 et donc voir les telescopes, il fallait le faire a pied. Pour cela, il fallait commencer tres tot (7.15 avec un reveil et depart de Hilo a 5.30 du matin). Nous sommes donc partis avec Nora et Nele, deux adolescentes allemandes en voyage a Hawaii recontrees a l'hostel a Hilo. La randonne etait classee difficile sur l'echelle de Richter avec une duree moyenne de 10h aller/retour et une arrivee au sommet a 4200m, avec risque de mal des montagnes. Meme si la randonne nous fait passer par des paysages desoles et rocailleux, la matinee aura ete magnifique, avec des vues splendides sur l'autre volcan de l'ile, Mauna Loa. Finalement, vers midi, nous sommes arrives en vue des telescopes, le plus connu etant les telescopes jumeaux de Keck, les plus puissants sur Terre, apres le telescope spatial Hubble. Ma-gni-fique!! Aujourd'hui, j'ai realise un reve de gosse: tous mes livres d'astronomie que je lisais etant gamin referencaient le site de Mauna Kea pour les images et toutes les decouvertes de l'epoque. Aujourd'hui, j'y etais!
La rando etait epuisante. Heureusement, nous avons ete pris en stop lors de la descente, raccourcissant le retour de 2h30 a 20mins. C'est toujours ca de gagne!!