Hawaii Big Island: Sea -> Mauna Loa -> Mauna Kea

[drewadams22]

Hi All, 

I will be attempting a run from the Ocean to the Mauna Loa Summit Cabin and then on to the summit of Mauna Kea on Monday February 22, 2016. I haven't seen any type of post on a route like this before (several people have done the Mauna Loa Trail in a day, and a Sea to Mauna Kea in a day), so I would be considering this an attempt at a FKT. The route I'll be following is described below, and I will validate the trip with GPX data from a Garmin Fenix 2 accompanied with pictures and a trip report. 

Route: I will begin at Hilina Pali Overlook in Volcanoes National Park (~2200ft above sea level), and head down to the ocean at Ka'aha Campground. From there I will follow the Ka'aha Trail to the Pepeiao Cabin where I will connect with the Ka'u Desert Trail and follow it to the Footprints Trail and the Ka'u Desert Trailhead. From there I will follow the highway west to Ainapo Road where I will then head up to the Ainapo Trailhead and follow that trail to the Summit Cabin (13,250 ft). From the Summit Cabin I will head down to the Mauna Loa Observatory and then follow the Observatory Road down to the Saddle Road and up the other side to the Mauna Kea Visitor Center and on to the Mauna Kea Summit via the Humu'ula Trail. 

I'm estimating that this trek via this route is somewhere between 60-70 miles and I plan to spend between 14-18 hours. I will post a followup on Tuesday Feb 23 regardless of the outcome. 

[Mike Hotchkis]

Best of luck with the run -- that's a great route you've chosen.

[drewadams22]

Well the trip didn't go quite exactly as I had planned, and I ended up pulling the plug at the Mauna Loa Observatory after coming down from the first summit. Learned a lot on this adventure and I have much more respect for the Hawaiian backcountry than I did prior to this. I never expected for the terrain to be as technical as it was, loose and jagged lava rock made it hard to ever get any sort of rhythm going. Beginning the trek at night after a long day on my feet didn't help either. It was a fun experience regardless.

Results: 44.7 miles (Hilani Pali Overlook to the sea, then up Anaipo Road/Trail to the summit cabin and down to the Observatory) ~14,000 feet of climbing in 17 hours 30 minutes, starting at 10:55PM, ending at 4:25PM.

Strava file (Garmin Fenix 2): www.strava.com/activities/500535004