August 26th, Hawai'i, Hawaii, United States

After a quick look at the map I decided to take the winding road to the summit of the worlds tallest mountain, Mauna Kea. The first 18,000 feet of its might are below the surface of the Pacific but that still left me almost 14,000 feet to go. I raced against the setting sun and just as I popped out from a cloud layer at around 10,000 feet, I caught the last rays disappearing on the wester horizon. Mauna Kea summit is home to a large astronomic observatory complex which I figured would make for an interesting subject at sunrise. As I didn't think the scientists would take well to my pitching a tent in their parking lot I decided to spend the night in the car. The temperature was dropping quickly so I put on a couple extra leyers, a winter hat and cocooned myself in my sleeping sack and bag. Between the level of comfort offered by the reclined seat, the headache that set in as I drove up and the after effects of the unidentifiable substance I picked up from the hot food counter at 7 Eleven at the last minute, I got very little rest at night. As I twisted and turned trying to lessen my discomfort I cursed myself for leaving my timer remote release at home which would have allowed me to create images of star trails against the foreground of the moonlit domes of the observatories. Getting up with the first light in the eastern sky was for once a relief. I was surprised at just how much colder it was outside than the inside of the rental vehicle, even after so many hours. Before I even finished setting up my tripod my fingers were numb and my headache intensified. With my senses dulled I decided to cut my session short and headed for lower elevations. As I drove down my symptoms disappeared confirming a mild case of altitude sickness.