We are Team Wicks: Mauna Kea

This has probably been one of our most memorable weekends since arriving in Hawaii. On Saturday afternoon we drove 2 hours to Mauna Kea which is the tallest volcano peak on Hawaii with an elevation of 13,792 feet. Because the mountain has such a gradual slope from the ocean, it is hard to believe that it is nearly as high as the much more rugged and snow capped peak of Mt. Rainier back home.

Mauna Kea is world renowned as an astronomical observing site. The atmosphere above the mountain is extremely dry and cloud-free, so that the proportion of clear nights is among the highest in the world. And, the stable atmosphere and distance from city lights ensure an extremely dark sky, allowing observation of the faintest galaxies that lie at the very edge of our observable universe. So, because we knew the Perseid meteor shower was happening this weekend, we figured this would be the perfect opportunity to go see a sky show (hey...free family entertainment!).

Our destination was the Mauna Kea Visitor Station which sits at 9,200 feet elevation. Proceeding above the visitor station requires a 4x4 vehicle and several hours to acclimatize to the elevation. At 14,000 feet, there is 40% less oxygen that at sea level and, because this is one of the only places in the world where you can drive to that elevation in such a quick time period, elevation sickness can hit hard.

Driving up the mountain was a surreal experience as you pass through several different climate zones and observe the constantly changing landscape and vegetation. As you approach the middle of the mountain, the road begins to weave through a vast and spooky landscape of lava. Then, much to the kids' delight, we drove through the clouds, just like if you were in an airplane breaking throught the cloud layer. We arrived at the Visitor Station a little after 6:00 pm, just in time to see one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen. Have you ever been above the clouds to see the sun set into the clouds?

Sam and Katie began to sing one of their favorite worship songs from church...

Lord of all creation

of water, earth, and sky

The heavens are your tabernacle

Glory to the Lord on high

God of wonders beyond our galaxy

You are holy, holy

The universe declares Your majesty

You are holy, holy

Lord of heaven and earth

It takes about an hour after the sun sets for the sky to become completely dark. We stretched

out on some lawn chairs and blankets we brought (it was very cold up there). Once it is fully dark, it is a sky that you have only seen in pictures. The Milky Way Galaxy cloud of stars stretches across the middle of the sky and there are more stars than you could imagine. Several people had telescopes set up and you could see the planet Jupiter and it's four moons. One of the Visitor Center guides used a green laser pointer to give a "star tour" to point out various stars, planets, and constellations. His explanations would be interrupted by the gasps of the small crowd as a meteors would streak across the sky with huge tails. The only disappointment was that it was too dark for our camera to take any pictures. It was moving to see the magnitude and beauty of the universe and realize that the amazing and huge God who created all this loves each one of us personally!