Skiing on Mauna Kea!

This photo of Hilo town and snow-capped Mauna Kea was taken recently by my good friend, and Hawaiian language teacher, Kaliko Beamer-Trapp. It was rainy for several weeks here in Hilo, and it was rare to even see the mountain. When the skies cleared, the view was breathtaking. Both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa were cloaked with snow. With the sun out, after so much rainy weather, we just had to go up and play in the snow.

We stopped to get acclimated at the Mauna Kea Visitors’ Center, where several IEP students have been working as volunteers for evening stargazing. Then we headed for the summit. It was cold, but not windy. We could see all the way to Haleakala on Maui. Bodhi was in his element, scampering through the snow chasing snowballs. His Husky heritage really serves him well in the snow, and the elevation doesn’t seem to bother him at all.

Dozens of skiers and snowboarders braved the icy slopes below the observatories. We don’t have any snow equipment, so we took our boogie boards to use as toboggans. It was a blast!

What I didn’t keep in mind was the intensity of the winter sun at such a high elevation, nearly 14,000 feet. We got really sunburned! As we left I was short of breath and weary, but the experience was exhilarating.

(This is from a journal entry I wrote last winter...)

40 days and nights of rain…

You would not believe the rain we’ve had this winter!

Before Christmas the rain began. And it seemed after a few weeks that it might never stop. There were two days in which nearly four feet of rain fell in some parts of Hilo.

The Wailuku River, which runs through Hilo was a raging torrent. I think that the water level must have risen by 10-15 feet. It looked like chocolate milk.

At Boiling Pots, the islands in the river where we like to hike and play "fetch" with Bodhi were completely submerged.

Rainbow Falls, in Hilo, Hawaii

At Rainbow Falls the scene was even more dramatic.
The huge cave behind the falls was completely hidden.

I felt sorry for so many of our IEP students who didn’t see the sun for several weeks.

But finally the sun came out, and the weather has been sunny and warm.