The drive to the Mauna Kea tour pickup point from where I was staying goes inland and beneath the base of the massive Mauna Kea volcano. The mountain, and with a good eye, a few of its observatories can be seen from the road.

The tour goes up the sides of this giant, across lava flows, rising above old cinder cones of brown and red and, nearing the top, into a desert like landscape of yellows and reds. The top doesn't feel like a volcano other than the colors but volcanic indications can be found all around its base.

The observatories are scattered everywhere. It is necessary to bundle up in thick parkas and gloves to protect from the biting and freezing winds. At the bottom of the mountain that day it was shorts weather.

You are literally on top of the world here standing at 4,205 m (13,796 ft) above sea level. If you actually counted the real base down in the ocean, this mountain is actually 10,200m (33,500 ft) tall, taller than Mt Everest at 8,849m (29,032 ft) above sea level. This height is evident while watching the sun drift down into the sea of clouds well below your feet. The air is so thin and pure up here (which explains the observatories) that there is little color to the sunset. The sky barely manages a modest orange at the last minute as the sun dips into the rolling cloud landscape below.

If you are fortunate to take the right tour, you may get an opportunity to view the heavens through telescopes at the visitor's center below. The area is kept clear of light pollution so the experience is incredible.

The mountain is fairly inactive these days but we were able to view a fresh lava flow across the valley on a sister volcano as we drove down.

To observe the products of these volcanoes after coming back off the mountain, the Red Road along the ocean shows recent lava flows into the ocean.