Let It Snow...Let It Snow!

From our house at 3500 feet

Yes SNOW in Hawaii along with palm trees and beaches. Here's a photo we took from our driveway looking up at Mauna Kea. At 13,800 elevation it is about one million years old and remains a deeply sacred cultural site in the hearts of the Hawaiian people.

(snow only on 2 mountain tops -- other white is clouds)

With its high elevation, dry environment, and stable airflow, Mauna Kea's summit is one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation. 


Since the creation of an access road in 1964, thirteen telescopes funded by eleven countries have been constructed at the summit. Their construction on a landscape considered sacred by Native Hawaiians continues to be a topic of debate to this day.

Most of the volcano is underwater (as shown in this photo) and when measured from its underwater base, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world, measuring over  33,000 ft in height. The artistic depiction above illustrates so much of this mountain is below sea level.

And, here's an aerial photo showing sporadic cloud cover, snow on the peaks on Mauna Kea (upper mountain) and Mauna Loa. The map show the location of Volcano Village. No matter what direction our driving takes us, views of both are visible. Sun light, moon light, light clouds or stormy vistas -- even softly enshrouded in grey fleece, they are a magnificent presence. 

Finally, in contrast, here's a sweet rose growing across the street from our house -- now, we're on the hunt for roses for zone 11 so we can have some too.