Another post on the WordPress photo challenge theme of ‘serene.’
To me this Mauna Kea scene, of an empty landscape in early evening light backed by pillow-like clouds, is quite serene. But is it really? Those fluffy clouds could contain the kind of turbulence that throws airplanes around, and the pu’us are evidence of volcanic eruptions in the past. Still, it does look serene.
Many times when I travel on Old Saddle Road, there comes a point where I’m exiting the clouds or disappearing into them. I like to take photos in this zone, experimenting as the level of the clouds comes and goes.
The top photo has that transition from clouds to clarity, but I also like the ethereal quality of the lower photo as patches of sun illuminate the pastures below.
Another post on the theme of ‘Rounded,’ this week’s WordPress photo challenge.
The rounded domes of the two Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea gaze out over the clouds to Maui – and a bit farther afield too.
Above: The sign by the start of the trail to Mauna Kea summit.
Below: Two disrespectful people and one more on the way, dwarfed by the scale of the volcano.
These views of the trail across Kilauea Iki Crater, taken from the rim of the crater, give some idea of the scale of Kilauea Volcano.
Above, a group of people, looking very small, walk the trail across the crater floor.
To the left, smoke and gases from the active vent in Halema’uma’u Crater can be seen. Halema’uma’u Crater is part of the Kilauea Caldera which is much, much bigger than Kilauea Iki Crater. And, yes, that same group is still visible on the trail in this second photo, along with several others hiking the trail.
For more information about Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, go to nps.gov/havo/. For more information about Kilauea Volcano and it’s eruptions, go to hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/main.html.
In this view of Mauna Kea from the Pu’u O’o Trail, the trees of a kipuka, clouds rolling over the saddle, and the bulk of the mountain, create a layered effect.
Most of the telescopes on Mauna Kea are clustered together near the summit, but about halfway between the Mauna Kea Visitor Center and the summit is this lonely telescope. It’s one of the ten radio telescopes that make up the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), which began operating in 1993. Eight of the other telescopes are scattered around the U.S. mainland with the tenth at St. Croix in the Virgin Islands.
The Mauna Kea telescope, like the others, consists of a dish antenna 82 feet in diameter, and an unmanned control building. These ten telescopes are remotely operated from the Domenici Science Operations Center in Socorro, New Mexico.
For more information about the Very Long Baseline Array, go to https://public.lbo.us/.
Hualalai volcano has an elevation of 8,271 feet (2,521 m). Only the top of the volcano was poking through the clouds on a recent visit to the top of Mauna Kea.
Graham's Island 