Tag Archives: Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea in red

Mauna Kea at sunset

Returning from a recent hike, I drove round a corner and saw Mauna Kea looking completely red in the setting sun. I pulled over and grabbed my camera, but by the time I took photos, a matter of a couple of minutes, only the top half of the volcano was still illuminated.

This though was my last photo from September, posted here for Bushboy’s Last on the Card challenge (see more responses here).

I took the photo with a view to making a few adjustments, which I’ve done in the bottom photo. The main thing was to crop some of the sky, which I had to include in the photo to get the full volcano. The other thing, which is a bit of an oddity with my camera, is that in certain lighting conditions it will produce a somewhat dull and hazy image. But adjusting the Lighten Shadows feature from zero to one makes the difference seen here.

Mauna Kea at sunset

Mauna Kea from Kaulana Manu Nature Trail

A view of Mauna Kea from Kipuka 21on the Big Island, Hawaii

Kaulana Manu Nature Trail used to be known as Kipuka 21. A kipuka is an area of land that has been surrounded by lava and the 21 referred to the fact that this one was located at the 21 mile marker of the road across the middle of the island.

It has been renamed Kaulana Manu Nature Trail, presumably to reflect its new grandeur since the trail has been renovated, which is a good thing. However, a new toilet facility and parking lot, featuring space for three large buses, has also been built, which is not necessarily a good thing.

The trail is a one mile loop through a fragile environment, where native endangered birds can sometimes be seen. I’m not clear on how disgorging busloads of people into this area is going to help preserve things. If three buses did arrive, there would be gridlock on the trail, which is narrow and winding.

Fortunately, when I’ve visited, the place has been pretty much deserted. Long may that continue.

It’s bright, it’s white, it’s Sunday Stills

Surf rushes ashore at Upolu, Hawaii
A cattle egret waits in a fountain
The turbines of Hawi wind farm with Mauna Kea in the background

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘White.’ See more responses here.

In the top photo, frothy surf barrels ashore at Upolu in North Kohala. Below that, a cattle egret surveys the scene in the middle of a water fountain. The third photo shows turbines at Hawi Wind Farm against a backdrop of snowy Mauna Kea. And the bottom photo features a bee collecting on a Maiapilo flower.

A bee forages on a Maiapilo flower