Climbing Mauna Kea, Hawaii

On 10 February 2014, Eric Hodge and I climbed Mauna Kea, the highest mountain in Hawaii. The summit is 13,796 feet / 4,205 metres above sea-level, and the mountain is not only the sixth highest of the 50 US state highpoints, but – because it rises almost 32,000 feet from the Pacific Ocean floor – Mauna Kea is frequently also referred to as the world’s “tallest” mountain. Climbing Mauna Kea represented a major milestone for Eric and me: reaching the summit meant I'd completed my quest to climb the thirteen highest of the fifty US state highpoints, and it was also the tenth and last US state highpoint that Eric and I climbed together. (We'd go on to climb other state highpoints, but they were in Australia!)