This year I was made aware of a brave fellow, Alex Yale ( https://yearoftheclimb.substack.com/ ) who was attempting to climb all of Pjamm’s top100 climbs in the world. That’s quite a logistical feat as it covers 27 countries! I was excited to try and meet up eventually. Missed him in Madeira and Tenerife but messaged him later in the year to find out when he was doing Hawaii.

The Big Island is home to the world’s toughest climb, Mauna Kea. I knew it was heavily recommended to do this with a support vehicle so I was happy to time this trip with Alex and get to do this bucket list item of mine. I discovered Hawaii, while expensive, is more affordable than I imagined ( i.e. 150$/night instead of 400$+ ) so I turned it into a longer trip!

Nov 11 2024 - Travel Day

Look at this super tiny plane flying from Victoria to Vancouver

Stopped at the old Vancouver south airport, 20mins away from the real airport. Weird.

This guy having the time of his life on the 5.5 hours trip to Kona.

Turkeys scampering on the steep street where my Airbnb was

Also had a night cat.

Backyard of the Airbnb. Very zen. It was just a room inside some people's house but that did the trick.

Learned that Hawaii, like Newfoundland, have their own weird bastard language

Keep in mind that book is from like 1982 so possibly nobody actually talks like this anymore.

First ride on the Island. Only had one full day before Alex arrived and we’d drive over to Hilo to do Mona Kea. Had to get back early enough to not miss my Manta Ray night snorkel that I had booked!

About 20km into the ride I get a flat... Was this entire trip going to be this kind of BS?

Don't know if you can read the "Trump" flag. Lol.

Cool grass-covered mounds ( old craters? ) along the bottom of Mona Kea.

The Victory boot in a little town called Waimea

The foot of Mona Kea, <1000m elevation.

Discovered much of the island is infested with these wild goats. They live on the grass mounds and mow them!

More goats sleeping under a really cool tree.

This is right next to one of many large resort towns ( money farms ).

These petroglyphs ( ancient carvings ) are so clean they look manufactured...

Pretty cool that they're right there. You could just grab it! Then go to jail! : (

Mona Kea in all its glory, seen from sea level. That's a 4200m mountain!

The Kona side coastline is just completely empty other than a few resort towns miles apart. What a waste!

One of the bolts from my front brake popped out in transit. A mechanic from a shop made a ghetto fix with some random nuts and a zip tie. Otherwise half the brake kept closing...

Ended the ride by trying "Loco-Moko" which is hamburger patties with gravy and a runny egg on top. It's...ok.

Also learned that day that the island can be A LITTLE BIT WINDY SOMETIMES.

Stressful second day. We kept checking the weather to see when we’d do Mona Kea so I didn’t ride to be safe. Alex’s flight was deplaned… then delayed 2.5 hours. Most of the day I wasn’t sure if I’d have to rebook a different Airbnb, if my bike ( that I left at the Airbnb with my stuff ) would still be there ( as the hosts didn’t reply until like 8 hours after I sent them a message ) and I also discovered the bus system on Hawaii seems to be QUITE GARBAGE which made me question some of my other plans to take a bus between places…
Still I visited a little bit if things in the morning with a very long walk….

Gold Dust Day Gecko at the Airbnb. They're SMOL but plentiful.

Look at this happy little guy! What the GEICO mascot is based on.

Yes, good shoes... yes I am wearing those.

Ancient rock wall structure in the Petroglyph park.

These are "noni" plants. They look cool I dunno.

"The pungent odour of the fresh fruit has made it a famine food in most regions, but it remains a staple food among some cultures" -Wikipedia

More petroglyphs!

Very bad drawing. 1/10. You had so many rocks to practice with and this is what you made?

I think some kind of invasive parrot species? Whatever they are cool. More.

Passed by a rocky beach where the sea turtles hang out and chill.

Several of them were "sleeping" near shore. Of course if you get within 20 feet someone snipes you from a helicopter.

A "Wandering Tattler". Always nice to have completely different animals when traveling.

Pacific Golden Plover. I think these are winter visitors to Hawaii. They are everywhere.

A very Hawaii picture for you.

Badass boat name.

Didn't make it in time before the Hulihe'e Palace closed...at...2pm. Like come on.

Cruise ship bringing a fresh batch of ripe tourists to harvest.

Like all nice and warm places, Kona has a healthy population of bums.

Taro bread. There's no fruit in this just pure sugar, but it's purple so I bought it.

A "bus stop" according to Hawaii. The bus never showed up anyway. Took a Uber to the airport. RIP 25$.

After an eventful day traveling to Hilo and getting settled at 11pm, it was mostly time to rest. Alex wanted to start the climb very early and it just wouldn’t be possible given how late we got to bed because of the delay. The day was spent unpacking the bikes, testing them and doing groceries. Food in Hawaii is expensive. Unless you shop at Wal-Mart. Then it’s Canadian prices but in US dollars, basically. It is the most remote land mass in the world after all…

My kickass Airbnb was in a big apartment complex with a river running through it. Very nice! Was happy since I'd come back here after spending a few days in Volcano NTL park.

Even has koi fish in there!

Also had huge ducks you could hear loudly landing in the pond all day.

As a cyclist I never think to sunscreen my feet... Whoops. Result of 4hours of walking around yesterday.

Got a little break from the rain to do a test ride. This is the oceanfront of downtown Hilo.

There's a loop with a bunch of these huge Banyan trees. They are awesome.

"Rainbow Falls". You're supposed to visit in the morning to get the rainbow... Will try later.

"Boiling Pots". Can't see much. Cut the jungle guys.

Andrew, Alex's brother. He's the one in charge of support for Mona Kea!

Look at these frickin trees though.

Herd of random wild cats hanging out at my Airbnb's parking lot.

Oh yeah, the Island is infested with these chicken. I assume they descend from people keeping them as farm animals. There's wild goats and pigs now too.

The reason for this whole trip! So thankful to have Alex’s brother drive a support vehicle and to be able to split the cost of renting and organizing this. Would not have come to Hawaii otherwise.

My rocket fuel for the ride. The KOM on this climb is 4.5 hours... So....yeaaaaah

About 660m up as you turn onto the highway to go towards Mona Kea. That's part 1 of the climb done: From Hilo to Highway. 13km.

That's pretty accurate! The second part is the highway that crosses the island and then you turn on Mona Kea access road, after 44km and 2000m climbed.

Multiple different landscapes as you go up in elevation. It's rare you can see it so well.

The foot of the mountain is a beautiful landscape with tons of wild flowers flanking both sides of the road.

Part 3 is the last easy part. It's from the turn all the way to the visitor center. 54km in, 2800m!

Part 4 is 4.6 miles of loose sandy dirt with very steep pitches. It's why you need a follow car. Got Andrew to give me running shoes. The altitude at this point starts to completely destroy you.

The dirt ends at km 64 / 3500m elevation. It destroyed me. I walked half of it. The altitude is brutal if you come from sea level like I do.

Andrew on photo duty! The final part is paved again. If you have support you can switch bikes/shoes again here! Sections of this last stretch are also really steep at 15%.

Alex's special climbing bike had the gearing to do this! Not me! Look at the diner plate cassette and tiny chairing. Almost a 2:1 ratio.

I ran out of power and gears even on the pavement at this point, completely exploded. Alex kept it steady!

Still made it to the top! 69km, 4200m. 5h50 minutes. Slower than I wished but without acclimation, I think it's okay!

I almost quit 2km from the top as I was shame-walking ON PAVEMENT. But I couldn't push the watts anymore. You have about 42% the oxygen here as you do at sea level.

That little red mound is the actual top of Mona Kea. WELL PAVE IT AND I'LL GO. UNTIL THEN...

The array of telescopes at the top at basically the best in the world.

It was about 0c at the peak, 30c in Hilo. That's perfect weather for this climb! We got very lucky there was no snow or rain.

It's just crazy up there. Met one of the astronomers working at the telescopes! Otherwise very few people come here.

You can pay 150-200$ USD to be driven up with a tour group, otherwise you have to rent a 4WD or they stop you at the visitor center.

Our rental ( after Andrew fixed one of the exploded tires ). That dirt section is no joke.

One last view while driving back down. Happy to not have to bike this descent! I was cracked.

Eternally grateful to Alex Yale and his brother Andrew for meeting up with me and allowing me to cross this off my cycling bucket list! It also was the only thing on said list. The hardest climb in the world. I would have regretted not ever doing this in my life.

Conclusion

The last 2 days of that week were spent resting, visiting museums and attractions and relocating to the town of Volcano, near Mt. Kilauea! That’ll be detailed in the next entry.

Thanks for reading!

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Hawaii - Part 1 - Big Island