Today we drove up the new Saddle Road to the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station (elevation 9200 feet). The Saddle Road crosses the island between Mauna Loa to the south and Mauna Kea to the north. It was clear as we drove up, but we could see clouds moving in from Hilo as we headed down and to the west. It was sunny and 56 degrees at the visitor center.
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| View of Mauna Kea looking north from visitor center |
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| The slope of Mauna Loa, looking south from Saddle Road. Also serious cloud cover. |
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| Mauna Kea, looking north from Saddle Road |
We took the old Saddle Road fork down towards Waimea. The topography and ecosystem changed a lot along the way.
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| Rolling hills along old Saddle Road. Maui can be seen in the background. |
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| Grasslands along old Saddle Road |
From Waimea, we could see the observatories high atop Mauna Kea and the snow.
The rain caught up with us in Waimea, about 45 minutes later.
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