i just spent 4 days on Mauna Kea, the "most massive" mountain in the world. (It's bigger than Everest, but in contrast to the big E, "only" about 14, 000 feet are above the ocean. The rest is submerged and is weighing heavily on the crust of the earth, which is usually why we have earthquakes here.) It is above 90% of the earth's atmosphere and the stars were amazing, as were the sunsets and sunrises from our cabin just above the first cloud line.
so yeah, we were taking samples of koa in Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, which used to be cattle land and was almost completely grazed until about 22 years ago, when the park service stepped in and started replanting koa, a native tree lots of birds nest in. Many of these birds are endangered or threatened. I saw my first (and second, and third, and...) 'i'iwi! I also saw wild turkeys and heard Urkel's Francolins, who like to get up really early and start yelling at each other. it kind of reminded me of the chickens outside the hotel Chris and I stayed at in Captain Cook.
so this is sunrise:
and this is sunset:
and ha ha, this little piggy has opposable thumbs and the combination to the lock on the gate!
5 comments:
i'm so jealous! we went up to about 6ooo ft on 7/4! nice mtns around here, but them things old and worn and small! i hope you stay in HI for a few more yrs so we can come and visit you. give doodle a hug for me! miss y'all--a.
I don't know what Mr. Rodrigo be talkin about, but that 'I'iwi sure is cute :)
I thought you might post the bit about the day you had to descend 6,000 feet over powdery, ankle-twisting, vegetation covered rocks until your legs turned to useless stumps of jelly. I guess you recovered a bit from that?
yeah, i shoulda posted about that but it was just so traumatic. maybe i'll cut n copy that email i sent you so i don't have to relive it again. my blisters from that are just now healing!!!!
xo
k
The Bad Day On The Mountain, by Me, 13 July 2007, after which i was sore for over a week.
okay, imagine this: walking down a 45-degree incline. it's hot and there's no road, only a thick layer of flour-like dust completely covered with foot-sized rocks that move every time you step and try to twist your ankle. then add a layer of brushy grass that covers the foot-sized rocks and the bigger rocks waiting to trip you. you have to follow scraps of little blue plastic down from a 10,000 foot elevation to 4,000 feet. the only mammals that lives up there are mouflon, which are these sort of bighorn sheep/mountain goat things. did i mention it's hot? and dusty? and closer to the sun than anywhere on earth??
now imagine doing that FOR SEVEN HOURS STRAIGHT.
that's what i had to do yesterday. mauna kea kicked my ass. i feel like a truck ran over my legs. seriously, i have to put 2 feet on every stair, and i had to sit on my car seat and lift my legs in this morning. omg omg omg. because of the incline, my feet were all slid forward in my boots and i have huge blisters on my big toes and the balls of both feet.
at the end of our transect, when i had to walk another 6 miles to get to the pickup spot, i didn't care what kind of endangered chicken eggs i was stompling on my way. it was all i could do to put one foot in front of the other. literally. all i could do.
and what preparation did i have for this? "oh we're helping some ppl do a weed inventory on mauna kea. bring lunch, water, and sunscreen." thank god i threw in an extra (big) bottle of gatorade.
my trail buddy kept saying, "at least it's not uphill!" today i found out that the rest of the kids in my lab had to do the same thing on monday -- UPHILL. then do 3 more days of heavy fieldwork. i would have died. i'm not joking in the slightest. i would have curled up in a ball and died on the spot.
i did get to see silversword, tho. i took pretty pictures on my phone. if i ever get up again, and if cingular (the new at&t) can handle it, i'll post one.
xo
k
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