hiking groups

[oink]

Green Sands: I was concerned about parking. I elected to park at the house or whatever it is and pay the 5 bucks to have the car watched and walk a bit more. It kinda felt like extortion but probably worth it. The weather was a bit hot but windy. The path(s) are easy enough. Some parts would probably be slippery if wet. I would go very early and take a lunch and possibly a small bottle of wine and take your time. It's a really nice beach. If the wine bottle is very big the walk back could seem very long. The trash washed up on the rocks along the way will disgust you.

Mauna Loa Cabin is at over 13,000' near the top of Mauna Loa accross the caldera (North pit) from the summit (13,679'). It can be reached by trail from the top of Mauna Loa Rd (6,662'), which is a VNP road accessed from near Volcano. About 19 miles by that route, I think. It can also be reached in about a 6 mile by trail from the observatory. I really didn't have too much trouble with the altitude especially being a flatlander. I pushed fairly hard in bursts but took extremely frequent very small breaks. You start out at about 11,000' from the observatory. Start very early. Star watching from the observatory road is also worthwhile. Your vision doesn't get messed up by the traffic you have on Mauna Kea.

Here is somebody's Utube that isn't too bad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okFXiMxRWc8

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.