Mauna Kea - Big Island Hawaii

A friend from Korea wanted to see the beautiful stars a top Mauna Kea, so we made it a point to visit.

From Volcanoes National Park, it took about two hours to reach the visitor's center at Mauna Kea.

Although you may want to drive past the visitor's center, you have to acclimate there to avoid altitude sickness.  We spent about an hour at the visitor's center and met a hillarious older couple from New Jersey that kept us entertained.  We also shopped a little inside of the visitor's center, where they sell souvenirs, as well as hot chocolate and miso soup. 

We treaded to the top of Mauna Kea with our 4-wheel drive vehicle.  The view was INCREDIBLE, as always.  I also saw some snow.

At the summit, we saw the most amazing view and had a chance to take in the breathtaking scenery - literally.  My poor friend's lips turned blue because it was hard to breathe at the summit, while the cold had taken over our bodies.

I could barely stand outside, although I managed to take a ton of pictures (which ended up being blurry).  People must have thought we were crazy, jumping and running around for our silly photos, but it was fun.

By 7:00 p.m. we had to go back down to the visitor's center, where they provided telescopes for viewing the stars and planets. 

Before leaving, I decided to buy a t-shirt which I thought was purple, but turned out to be gray.  At night, they use some sort of red lighting, which throws things off a bit. 

I walked b