12-01-2014, 07:39 PM
AM,
"Was up on Mauna Kea a few weeks ago for the sunrise and the road looked to be recently graded. The 4WD is an advisory only, not a requirement."
I believe the road is graded twice a week. It used to be 3 times a week back in the day. However, there is now so much traffic going up and down each day the road quickly degrades. Even a day or two without grading can make it quite an uncomfortable ride. After a holiday weekend it can actually be quite a painful experience.
My bet is that most of the traffic is tourist related. I don't have the numbers to back that up, but when I do visit the summit most of the traffic we pass and see at the summit are not observatory vehicles.
Incidentally, I was told by some visiting physicist that the ruts in the road are caused by 2WD vehicles. I can't remember the physics of his explanation but it made sense to me at the time.
"Was up on Mauna Kea a few weeks ago for the sunrise and the road looked to be recently graded. The 4WD is an advisory only, not a requirement."
I believe the road is graded twice a week. It used to be 3 times a week back in the day. However, there is now so much traffic going up and down each day the road quickly degrades. Even a day or two without grading can make it quite an uncomfortable ride. After a holiday weekend it can actually be quite a painful experience.
My bet is that most of the traffic is tourist related. I don't have the numbers to back that up, but when I do visit the summit most of the traffic we pass and see at the summit are not observatory vehicles.
Incidentally, I was told by some visiting physicist that the ruts in the road are caused by 2WD vehicles. I can't remember the physics of his explanation but it made sense to me at the time.