16.10 Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Moaner Jeffrey - Lost and found on the Island of Hawaii.
Volcano and clouds, Island of Hawaii. Clouds below the mountain at dawn. Imagine the scene. You are standing alone after descending to approximately 13,000 feet above sea level, the wind is gusting vigorously—across the way on a neighboring mountain, it’s recorded at 81 miles per hour. The noon temperature is near freezing point so evening and later, should get down lower. Your feet are aching from walking on volcanic cone and rocks. As far as the eye can see, you are surrounded by lava rock colored black and gray. Some of the places that you step on collapse under your weight as there is no support under the surface covering. You have now been on this mountain for nearly four hours and you don’t know the way back to the trailhead. To put it quite bluntly, you are lost. You should understand the area is vast, covered entirely with volcanic rock and nothing else. Wherever you look on the mountain, it's the same, not providing any indication of familiarity. In the ea...