Mauna Kea
— — the tallest mountain measured from where it begins.
Not only on a wall.
“A dormant shield volcano rising 13,803 feet from the Pacific and another 19,000 below the surface, making it the tallest mountain on Earth measured from base to summit. The Hawaiian name Mauna a Wākea names a father-sky. The summit holds snow some winters and one of the clearest night skies in the northern hemisphere. The road up climbs through clouds in under an hour.
Mauna Kea, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Mauna Kea is a dormant shield volcano on the island of Hawai'i, the highest point in the state at 13,803 feet (4,207 metres) above sea level. Measured from its base on the Pacific seafloor it stands roughly 33,500 feet from foot to summit, taller than Mount Everest by that measure. The mountain is sacred in Native Hawaiian tradition, regarded as the firstborn child of Wākea, the sky father, and Papa, the earth mother. It sits within the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve and the Mauna Kea Science Reserve managed by the University of Hawai'i.
The road from Hilo climbs from sea level to 9,200 feet at the Halepōhaku visitor information station in under an hour, an altitude gain the University of Hawai'i recommends acclimating to for at least thirty minutes before continuing higher. Above 12,000 feet the air holds roughly 60 percent of sea-level oxygen. Trade winds break against the mountain's eastern flank and most days the summit sits above the cloud deck, in dry, still air. The seeing is so steady the stars do not twinkle.
The Mauna Kea Observatories sit at 13,800 feet on a plateau the University of Hawai'i has managed for astronomy since 1968. Thirteen working telescopes share the summit ridge, among them the twin Keck ten-metre instruments, the Subaru telescope, and the Gemini North observatory, on what is considered one of the four best ground-based observing sites on Earth. Sunset from the summit lasts about forty minutes as the mountain's own shadow climbs the eastern horizon. The visitor station runs an evening telescope programme on clear nights.