And the link to the full album:

It was definitely the most amazing one yet, I was in Hawaii visiting my sister so I took the opportunity to climb Mauna Kea. At 13,796 it was by far the highest, and it was also the first mountain I climbed alone. I woke up at about 4 AM so I could drive to the visitor’s information center to view the sunrise above the clouds.

The hike to the summit is about 5 miles, and also starts from the visitor’s center, which is where it’s recommended to spend at least a half hour before summiting to become acclimated to the oxygen at those elevations. It worked out well that I could watch the sunrise while acclimating, and then begin my hike by 6:45. The hike gets steep at times, but it is just a hike, not really any scrambling required.

I summited by 11:45; not a bad time considering how often I stopped to admire the views, catch my breath, and just relieve the pain in my knee that’s become standard for long hikes. The temperatures at the summit were in the low 40s, and the wind was at least 14 mph. I never could have imagined standing in Hawaii and being as bundled up as I was.

Since my knee was hurting I decided to walk down the road so I could hitch if my knee got too bad. I got about 3 miles down (the road is 8 miles) before someone stopped and volunteered a drive tot he visitor’s center, at that point I was more than happy to take it.

I can honestly say Mauna Kea is one of the most amazing places on earth, I drove back the next day to view the sunset from the summit and then to view the stars. At night they setup telescopes at the visitor’s center, and give a guided tour of the stars. It’s above the clouds and clear 340 days out of the year. Everything about the mountain is awe inspiring, second only possibly to hiking up to the lava flowing into the ocean.

Mauna Kea Album

Full Hawai’i Album

Peakbagger.com Ascent Log

In standard fashion we chose the steepest trail for the ascent.  We took the Hell Brook trail (which was 1.3 miles straight down according to the sign).  It was an amazing trail, it was very steep and slick, but getting to hike up the mountain through the woods was a nice contrast to Katahdin from the day before.

My love of the trail definitely subsided as we neared the top.  We were in the clouds so there was no visibility, and with the windchill it felt well below freezing.  We chatted briefly with the other group that decided to brave the summit on that day and then made our way down the Long Trail.  The total hike, including the road hike between the Long Trail and Hell Brook parking lots, was probably about 5 1/2 miles.

Once again it’s a mountain I’d love to go back to, but only if the views are further than 10 feet this time.  :)

Yay! for climbing my 4th and 5th state high point in one weekend!

Mansfield and Katahdin photo album here!

So Friday we drove from Boston to Millinocket Maine to stay the night and hike Mt Katahdin in the morning.

The initial goal was to hike the Knife Edge trail, but it turns out you have to reserve parking spaces and get there around 3 AM to accomplish that, so we decided on the steepest trail instead; Abol Trail.

We took Abol Trail both directions for a total of about 7.6 miles.  The views from the top were amazing, and I would love to go back and hike the Knife Edge trail (you can view it in the 2nd panoramic picture below).

We started around 8 and got out of the park around 2 to start our long drive to Vermont.

Mansfield and Katahdin photo album here!