How Our Adventure Began
 
It was John's idea to travel to the Big Island of Hawaii to experience a total eclipse of the sun. He is an amateur astronomer and in those days was an avid backpacker. John is a planner. As he studied charts of the narrow band cut by the moon’s shadow, he noticed the band traveled directly across the Big Island of Hawaii where totality would last just over four minutes.  He noticed that on the Big Island the moon’s shadow would pass directly over Mauna Loa, a massive shield volcano with relatively gentle slopes. 

Image of Mauna Loa from Mauna Kea by Kevstan. Used with permission. Creative Commons 3.0

John remembered an article about a Mauna Loa Trail in a backpacking magazine. The trail began at an altitude of about 6600 feet and climbed almost 20 miles and 7000 feet to the summit. It was rated a strenuous but not difficult hike, mostly across lava fields.

The idea of seeing a total solar eclipse from the top of a volcano was appealing to the backpacker and mystic in John. At over 13,600 feet Mauna Loa would offer a unique vantage point. If clouds developed, they would more likely be at sea level, not high altitude. But if the clouds did come, “Well”, John would say, “then at least you are in Hawaii.”

John invited me to join him on this special journey. We had become great friends years before when we worked in the same organization. It sounded like a good adventure and I readily agreed.

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