These photos are from the tour I took to the Mauna Kea Summit. You go up to the top (13000 feet) for sunset and then head back down to the visitor center at 9000 feet to star gaze.

We got the best sunset type photos at 10,000 feet, there was a cloud that would not move out of our way. But it was still beautiful and I loved the pinkish hues.

The star gazing was mind blowing. You see so much up there without interference from city lights. Venus and Jupiter were most prominent in the sky, but you could see a ton of constellations - Orion (and the red twinkle of Betelguese), a few of the Zodiacs, Casseopia, Pegasus, etc, etc. So freaking amazing. Through the telescope we saw Jupiter and its moons. And seeing the Andromeda galazy pretty much was the icing on the cake.

The landscape of the Big Island is so different from what I think most people expect of Hawaii. I marvel at the lava rock and love the local custom of using coral to “write” things on the lava rock on the highway. But this lava cave was something I hadn’t seen, just a cave on the side of the highway that you can walk through. I didn’t walk through because I have been sporting a twisted ankle this whole trip but it was amazing just walking up to the opening. It’s hard to get the perspective here, but the opening is about 12 feet tall!