My husband and I greatly enjoyed our tour with Driver Aoki and Guide Wes. We were picked up exactly on time and had a comfortable ride up the volcano. Wes informed us of many things during the drive, including the weather at the summit and an elevation sickness symptoms to be on the lookout for. He checked in on us throughout the trip to make sure we were all feeling good and symptom free. We made a stop at the Mauna Kea visitor center (9000ft) where we were able to eat an early dinner, stretch our legs, and see the endangered silverspike plant. Don't let the 'veggie' sandwich fool you- it is a hearty, warm veggie burger that all can enjoy. After acclimating to the elevation, we continued up to the top. The top of the summit was COLD, and we were thankful for the warm jackets and gloves that kept us warm throughout. We were able to walk around, watch the telescopes come to life, and get amazing photos. Aoki is a professional when it comes to photos, and you will have plenty of time to get photos before, during, and after the sunset, including a few fun ones. Your photos will be shared with you almost instantly as Aoki is able to airdrop your photos from his professional DSLR camera.
After the amazing sunset at the top, we went down to about 12,000 ft for some stargazing and star photos. Here, we enjoyed some hot chocolate, looking through a telescope, and hearing from Wes about different constellations in the winter night sky.
The trip promptly returned us to our car around 9:30 PM.
Thank you to Wes and Aoki for sharing your knowledge and showing us how to respect and deeply appreciate beautiful Mauna Kea.