Met at Nanilao Hotel, guide told us where to park (just across the street), & he picked us up from the lot. He provided interesting history/stories/facts about Hawai'i during the drive up. However, it's difficult to hear from the last two rows (Mercedes van). We stopped at visitor center to acclimate for 40 minutes. Ride up to summit very bumpy, & he gave ample warning. He continued with interesting facts. The summit was very cold, had light snow flurry & windy. We got parkas & gloves. We parked until sunset, he took our pics &/or we could sit in van to stay warm. Very cloudy day, but sunset view above the clouds - momentary fog cleared out in time for sunset view/photos. As we returned to visitor center area for stargazing, there was a lightning storm & fog as we followed a line of ~ 20 other tour vans. We stopped for stargazing as ALL other vans kept going because it was cloudy. He & his partner from other Mercedes van set up snacks (cup o'noodles for savory, good hot chocolate, etc) By the time everyone was satisfied (snacking, only port-a-jons) the clouds had cleared enough to see many constellations. We got a good constellation tour with the super lazer pointer. Then for the photos, the sky was completely clear. It was also warmer than the summit. Our guides were the only ones who stuck it out so we got the full experience while everyone else missed out on the main event. We were the only people there, not more than 20. We got our amazing pics the next day - & they let us use the lazer pointers so it looked like we had light sabers. We napped on the drive back down, & we got dropped off in front of our car! Understandably, our teen girls were bored until the stargazing. They also couldn't hear during the drive sitting in the very back. But again, they're teens.