Beautiful sunrise in Hawaii

I didn't see a proper sunset during the few days on the Big Island. Either I got the time wrong and rushed through the mountains at sunset, or I arrived out of breath and saw dark clouds. On the last evening at Mauna Kae, I finally saw a beautiful sunset that I will remember for the rest of my life. I was hesitant before I set out. All the guides I looked up exaggerated how difficult it was to go up the mountain. Although I rented a four-wheel drive vehicle, I started to do research and find a small group going up the mountain out of fear of the unknown. Then I was scared away by the $750 chartered car price. So strictly speaking, it was money that drove me to face the fear of the unknown. The road to Mauna Kae is divided into two sections: navigation to Mauna Kae Visitor Information Station; 2 Visitor Information Station to the observatory (no navigation required, there is only one road). 1 The road to the visitor center is an ordinary mountain road, which is not difficult. You will pass through clouds on the way, with low visibility and light rain (Figure 14), so drive slowly. The journey is beautiful, with silent rain and fog, exotic plants, and a sudden drop in temperature. It is mysterious and moving. You can stop at the visitor center at more than 2,000 meters to adapt to the altitude and go to the restroom (the restroom is clean, and there are basically mobile restrooms as you go up). But if it is close to sunset, do not stay and queue up to go up the mountain as soon as your body can bear it. The Ranger will check each vehicle in this queue, teach you how to change gears and go up and down the mountain, and exchange pleasantries. If there are too many cars in the queue, you may miss the sunset. 2 This is the terrifying mountain road that is highly praised in various guides, but if you have driven on the more primitive mountain roads in China, this road will be no problem! The first 3/4 is a dirt road covered with pebbles (but it is not entirely a dirt road, it feels paved), and the last 1/4 is a paved asphalt road. Use the correct gear throughout the journey and move forward slowly. When there are no cars around, try to drive as close to the inside as possible, and there will be no problem! As for manual gear shifting, we found all kinds of information a few days in advance to prepare and memorize, and practice all kinds of fancy moves. As a result, we found that even if we didn't know anything in front of the Rancor, he would still patiently teach us how to engage and shift gears, as well as which gear to use when going up and down the mountain. It's not complicated at all! You'll learn it as soon as you hear it! It seems that you can drive in the same gear when going up and down the mountain. Ranger taught us the safest way. In fact, we also changed to other gears when the speed was really slow on some sections. If you are not an experienced driver, you still have to be obedient! Safety first! You can reach the observatory on the top of the mountain by driving along the road. The altitude here is more than 4,000 meters. Friends who are worried about altitude sickness can take me as a reference. Generally, I will feel dizzy if the altitude is above 2,000 meters, and I will have a headache and nausea if I stay there for a long time. I will be bedridden if the altitude is above 4,000 meters. We stayed in the observatory for 40 minutes, and I only felt obviously dizzy and had tinnitus in the last five minutes. So as long as the stay is not long, there is basically no need to worry about altitude sickness. Hawaii, United States