ハワイ旅行･ホテル･ショッピング･グルメ･求人

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Piling snow in Hawaii…Higher than Mt. Fuji at an altitude of 4205 meters (13796 feet), Mauna Kea is the mountain where the goddess of snow, Poliahu resides. Mauna Kea means “white mountain” in Hawaiian and in the middle of winter it's covered in snow.

2:30A.M. The silent sound of the wind and wave obstruct the darkness, we dress like we could never imagine dressing in Hawaii, and rush into the van. Though all of us are rubbing our drowsy eyes, our hearts were leaping with anticipation. With the attentiveness we had, it was impossible for us to imagine what we were going to face, nonetheless, we carefully listened to our chief guide, Mr. Sunny.

Hawaii is the largest island in the chain and it creeps closer and closer to Japan every year by about 7 to 8 centimeters. By the time it gets there, however, it will sink underneath the Japanese Archipelago without even touching it. Known as the Big Island, it was formed by lava flowing from volcanic activity more than 1.5 million years ago. Of course, there weren’t any living creatures on the lava rock, so where does the green paradise come from? There are three answers: the wind, waves, and birds. The palm trees, which symbolize Hawaii, were first carried by the waves to the island and were soon followed by migratory birds. The birds brought with them plant seeds and did their part in helping to introduce new organisms to the island. Then there was another 5000 years of paradise with only plants and birds until the first humans landed.

The summit of the Mauna Kea has a tundra-like climate, which has sub-zero temperature and is usually covered in snow. Even in the summer the temperature won’t go up more than 10 degrees Celsius.

The stories that Mr. Sunny told us kept us on the edge of our seat during the 2 hours of the journey to the summit. As we learned about the unique past of the Big Island, we started to feel a growing attachment to the land. Half way up Mauna Kea, at an altitude of 2800 meters (9184 feet), we prepared for the inevitable mountain sickness and stopped to try and acclimatize our bodies at the Onizuka Center.

One step out of the van…