.whttiger25

gallery

Here all in one photo are Hawaii's (the big island) tallest 3 summits. I'm standing on the tallest, Mauna Kea, at 13,796 feet. Notice the shrine, Hawaiian natives believe this mountain to be a sacred place where the gods live. No wonder they continue to protest the telescopes that are built there. Directly across the enormous valley called the Saddle, is Mauna Loa, or "Long Mountain", at 13,677 feet, about 15 miles away as the bird flies (although you don't see any birds up here!). When measured from the base miles beneath the ocean this is the most massive mountain in the world, more massive than the entire Sierra Nevada mountain range. It's truly enormous. It is a single, solitary mountain about 40 miles long, and that's just above the ocean. On the right is Hualalai at 8,271 feet. The big island lives up to its name.