Volcanoes: Mauna Kea

During Peace Corps training at Hilo, Hawaii, all 200-plus of us volunteers had a great outing: scrambling up the flanks of Mauna Kea.  It was summer, so there was no snow on the mountain, and being a shield volcano, it wasn't very steep (as you can see from the Wikipedia photos), but at 13,806 feet it still was a challenge.  Plus I had busted my toe playing soccer a few days earlier, which meant I hobbled a bit.  Still,we all made it, and the view from the top was magnificent.

Because the Hawaiian Islands slope deep into the ocean, Mauna Kea, measured from its underwater base, is over 33,000 feet, making it the tallest mountain in the world.  

As of 2012, the Mauna Kea Science Reserve has 13 observation facilities, each funded by as many as 11 countries. It is one of the world's premier observatories for optical, infrared, and submillimeter astronomy, and in 2009 was the largest measured by light gathering power.  There are nine telescopes working in the visible and infrared spectrum, three in the submillimeter spectrum, and one in the radio spectrum, with mirrors or dishes ranging from 0.9 to 25 m (3 to 82 ft). In comparison, the Hubble Space Telescope has a 2.4 m (7.9 ft) mirror, similar in size to the UH88, now the second smallest telescope on the mountain.