Resonant Constellation

Day 4: Mauna Kea, Hilo, and Waterfalls
10:00 PM (HI)
Yesterday was a slow, lazy day, so there’s really no entry, but today was rather busy, so there’s likely to be a lot. Starting out at about 9 AM, our drive to Mauna Kea began easily enough, but we soon encountered a poorly maintained stretch of windy, hilly road that led up to a state park visitor’s center. Soon enough, though, Hawaii’s typical excellent road quality was restored, and our ride became much smoother.

As we progressed into the saddle between the two large volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, we observed intense vog (volcano fog) on the slopes of Mauna Loa. While Mauna Kea is more compact and has more varied terrain, Manua Loa appears to be a perfect shield volcano-straight slopes all the way down to the sea. The sight is rather impressive, and though it doesn’t appear so tall (even though it is at about 500 feet short of being a 14,000 foot peak), the most impressive facet is the sheer extent of the volcano-truly massive.

Our route took us up the slopes of Mauna Kea to the Observatory visitor’s center. Outside, they had set up a 10 inch telescope with a solar filter, and though there are only a few very small sunspots visible at the moment, it still drew quite a crowd. We were informed at the desk inside that our car was likely not up to the trip to the top of the mountain, so we decided to forego the trip and perhaps try it another day. From here, we decided to head to Hilo for lunch and then north to view some waterfalls.

Lunch in Hilo was rather amazing. We found a small family owned thai restaurant that was highly recommended by our guidebook. We ordered several dishes, including an excellent chicken satay, thai fried rice, an amazing spicy green curry, and wonderful noodles with thai basil, but the star of the show, by far, was the cashew chicken. The sauce, we figured out, was a combination of red curry paste and coconut milk, and was as unique as it was amazing. Nearly every time I have thai cuisine, I’m convinced that it’s the best thai I’ve ever had, but this time is going to be hard to equal.

We finally headed for some waterfalls on a quick hike, and discovered amazing scenery along the way along with some peculiar flowers. As usual, I’ll let the photos do most of the talking.

Though our sojourn was short, we nonetheless were rather tired, and several took naps on the way back to the condo. We finished the day with a quick dinner in town, and some laid-back time to relax. All in all, not a bad day.
LJS-10:15 PM