We visited the observatories atop Mauna Kea today. Another day, another great memory.

You have to really want to get there. We drove upward for miles, and at the 9000 foot visitor’s center we were warned about eight miles of rough, steep road ahead. We forged ahead, up another 8 miles and 5000 feet. The scene at the volcano’s peak is simply surreal. You’re at 13,700 feet, high above the clouds, in a Martian landscape dotted with high technology monoliths. Atop a volcano that last erupted 4500 years ago, though geologists say it will do so again. Sometime.

It’s one of the most alien landscapes I’ve ever seen. And the views…pictures don’t do it justice, though we tried. More pictures later, mostly due to f’ing WordPress suddenly not liking Apple’s HEIC photo format.