Snow on Mauna Kea, Big Island of Hawaii

As winter approaches, many mainland visitors are surprised and excited to discover snow in Hawaii – on the top of Mauna Kea, one of the tallest mountains in the world.

Snow isn’t the only special thing about this amazing mountain, however.

Having grown up on Oahu, going up to Mauna Kea for the first time was awesome. The beauty of the mountain with its snowy sides, the sheer steepness, the puffy clouds making you feel like you could jump onto them. Mauna Kea feels so strong and healthy. Being on the mountain, you know she holds many secrets… like the bottomless crater filled with water (there’s at least one truck in there, they say). The views are awesome.

Now that Pele has shifted her lava flow, the smoke plumes can be seen clearly from Mauna Kea. It feels so close it makes you realize how powerful are both Pele (“She-Who-Shapes-The-Sacred-Land”) and this island.

Our Hawaiian ancestors did not go to Mauna Kea for fun. They went to gather the stones needed to create tools. Only the young, strong men would go up the mountain to find the stones. They’d bring them down and create the tools where Waiki’i Ranch is today.

Many Hawaiians believed that the Saddle Road area was not to be traveled. They believed that Pele and her sister were at war there. Pele residing on Mauna Loa and her sister Poliahu residing on Mauna Kea. The snow of Mauna Kea keeps Pele from residing on Mauna Kea as well. The energy of the area is hectic and war like. It is no wonder that the U.S. Military’s Pohakuloa Training Camp is situated in the middle of these two mountains. We often see the military caravans driving up past Waikoloa Village, and what’s truly beautiful is witnessing the civilians giving the soldiers the “shaka” and a warm aloha as they drive past.