Mauna Loa and Hualalai

High Altitude Training

So this is a first for my blog despite the fact that I have been writing it on and off for more than four years now. A post about Hawaii!

Sunrise from the Onizuka Visitor Center.

My next mission for work is to the eastern foothills of the Himalayas in India (more about that in a future post). As a result some of us who are going on the mission were sent out to the Big Island of Hawaii for training in basic climbing/mountaineering techniques and high altitude conditioning.

Lodging at PTA

The inside of the lodging.

We flew out to the Big Island last Thursday and drove up to the Pohakuloa Training Area, an army installation in the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa at about 6000'. We spent Thursday afternoon and all day Friday going over basic climbing techniques including knots, ascending a fixed line, rappelling, belaying, etc... In the evenings were had classes on altitude induced illnesses. We also went out for two short hikes.

Tying knots on the rope corral.

Saturday morning we drove up to the Onizuka Visitor Center located at about 9300'. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday we practiced steep earth patient movement, or how to move an injured person on tough terrain. We also completed two more hikes that were slightly harder than the first couple.

Most tourists to the big island simply drive from their resorts at sea level up to the visitors' center, wait an hour, and then drive to the top of Mauna Kea. The point of us spending four days acclimatizing was that we were planning on hiking from 9300' at Onizuka to 13796' at the top. The extra waiting time and short hikes allowed us to stack red blood cells, which carry oxygen. Experienced mountaineers are probably thinking "four days is way too many in that situation". Please remember that I work for the U.S. military, for which safety is always the number one concern.

So at 7:00 on Monday, 28 September 2009 eleven guys set out to hike the Humu`ula trail to the top of Mauna Kea.

Long shadows of early morning

Looking south to Mauna Loa.

Lots of lava field that had to be crossed.

Big O, still going strong.

Almost there...

U.S.G.S survey marker.

Hikers at the top.

Northeast view from the top.

The hike was tough, but there were no technical sections. It was a long slow hike across about 7 miles of shadeless lava fields. Aside from the practical skills I learned three very important things. First, I am going to be able to handle the altitude in India. Second, I will have to take my foot off of the accelerator when it comes to the pace of excavation. I usually like to run my sites at 100 mph, but I am going to have to dial it back. Third, mental abilities are hampered due to altitude. Simple word games and basic multiplication that would normally be very easy at sea level are very hard when their is not much oxygen. This translates to me needing to take more time with my notes and evidence collection in the field.

Commuting to work

Getting picked up in the afternoon.

A Few Pictures

If the line hadn't been so long I would have tried out...

A pond full of koi at the bird park in Kuala Lumpur.

The panel outside of a set of elevator in a mall in Kuala Lumpur.

Uh...

...yeah.

I encountered this in a freeway rest stop parking lot north of Kuala Lumpur on my way to the elephant sanctuary. The driver stopped to fix his licence plate. The vehicle clearly did not look new, but it purred like a charm when he started it up and drove off though. The driver sat in the chair, which did not appear to be physically attached to the vehicle in any way; without a seatbelt of course.

Ko Phi Phi

I dropped off of the radar for a little while because I spent a week on Ko Phi Phi Don, a gorgeous tropical island off the western coast of the Thailand half-way between Phuket and Krabi. The small town on the island has been rebuilt since it was completely destroyed by the tsunami several years ago.

Ko Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee) Don is most well known for its towering limestone karst topography and scuba diving, of which I did a lot. And no, I don't have any underwater pictures. Instead you are just going to have to suffer through several tropical island photos.

Looking north into Tonsai Bay

The island is made up of two north-south oriented ridges with a narrow isthmus connecting them. The compact, crowded and very busy town sits on the isthmus. There are no cars on the island and only the police have scooters. The lack of city noise is blissful.

Most days I would get up at 7, stumble my way to the dive shop and head out on their boat to Ko Phi Phi Ley, a smaller island just to the south. This is the island that has May Bay where The Beach was filmed. The diving was amazing. I saw a couple different types of sharks, a sea snake, thousands of fish, and even a hawksbill turtle with a giant snail riding on its back.

The southern most tip of Phi Phi Don with Phi Phi Ley in the distance.

There is a short hike up to a viewpoint where you can view wonderful sunsets.

Kata Beach, Phuket

It is a rough life, but someone has to do it.