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| To get here, it is a one hour drive from Waimea. The paved road, called the Saddle Highway, is in patched-up condition, very rough and off limits to most rental vehicles. At the turnoff to Hale Pohaku and the Onizuka Visitors Center, the road's condition improves, but becomes quite steep as it winds through the ancient feeder cones and lava fields of Mauna Kea. Telescope operators sleep here during the day, at an altitude of about 9300 feet in comfortable dormitory conditions. |