Smallest 4 wheel drive vehicle to rent for summitting Mauna Kea?

[mikeerdas]

My main car rental on Kona is a subcompact / economy. Seems it will be no trouble getting to the Mauna Kea Visitor Center with it. But that 4x4 are required, at least some of the time, to get to the summit. We could do a tour. But I'm the type that likes to Get There Early and have plenty of time to explore on my own.

 

However, all I ever drive are automatic subcompact cars--I like to be able to easily see over the hood. It would be a real white-knuckled / stressful experience for me to drive a hulking SUVs.

 

So what are my options for the smallest / easiest to drive (for me, given the above) 4 wheel drive vehicle? A Jeep? A mid-sized car that may have 4 wheel drive mode? Would be nice to know the latter, because invariably, the rental companies rarely ever seem to have subcompacts that I book--and always offer a "free upgrade" to a mid-sized car. To me, that's typically a downgrade--harder for me to drive and worse on gas.

 

Also, there seems to be some confusion out there about rangers and non-4x4s being allowed up to the summit past the visitor's center. Is this policy inconsistent? Or is there some other factor not being stated in reviews, e.g. if there's ice or bad weather, is this when the rangers start enforcing the rule? Again, not planning on taking a subcompact to the summit. Still curious though.

 

Finally, what about car rental agreements and summitting Mauna Kea? Do Dollar and Thrifty, based out of the Kona Airport, explicitly prohibit their vehicles from driving to the summit? If they do, are there other rental companies based at the airport I should consider?

 

Or... just keep my subcompact rental and pick-up a One Day 4x4 vehicle rental somewhere on the Kohala Coast (where our hotel is).

[mikeerdas]

We have three full days (4 night stay) in Kona (Kohala Coast). So another advantage of renting our own car to summit Mauna Kea would be weather conditions for star gazing (our intent). Would hate to spend ~$400 (two adults) for a tour on one day, when conditions might be poor.

 

If we have our own (small) 4x4 vehicle, then we'd have three separate days. Good for "trying again" if unsuccessful on our first summit. Aside from great snorkeling, summitting Mauna Kea, and star gazing at the 9K ft visitor's center, is high on the list of Cannot Miss items for this trip.

Edited May 3, 2014 by mikeerdas

[Susan-M]

Harpers is the only rental company that will allow you to take a vehicle to the summit ... with the other companies, you would be voiding the contract. More info.

[slidergirl]

If I remember correctly, you can't stargaze up at the summit - everyone is required to leave at sunset - it's a dangerous road to go on in the dark… Even the tours have to come down to near the Visitor's Center to do the stargazing.

 

Even going with a tour, you aren't going to be with hoards of tourists like other places. How many people can go up there is controlled. It's not like Haleakela where everyone and anyone can get up to the summit to watch the sunset.

Edited May 3, 2014 by slidergirl

[mikeerdas]

If I remember correctly, you can't stargaze up at the summit - everyone is required to leave at sunset - it's a dangerous road to go on in the dark… Even the tours have to come down to near the Visitor's Center to do the stargazing.

 

Even going with a tour, you aren't going to be with hoards of tourists like other places. How many people can go up there is controlled. It's not like Haleakela where everyone and anyone can get up to the summit to watch the sunset.

 

Thanks Susan and Slidergirl. @Susan, will have to take a look at Harpers. @Slidergirl, I've also read that it's important to get down from the summit or one will risk running out of parking spaces at the Visitor's Center for stargazing.

 

Anyone have experience with driving to the summit itself, to at least see the exterior of the observatories (although the NPS seems to offer escorted trips to the summit on weekends that include an observatory tour if you have a four wheel drive vehicle).

[mikeerdas]

I suppose we could simply take our original rental as high up as the Visitor's Center since stargazing itself is not allowed on the summit. Not perfect but may be a good compromise.

 

Glad to read elsewhere that Saddle Road has been greatly improved. Don't think it's true any longer that rentals aren't allowed on Saddle Road. Just not perhaps from the Visitor's Center to the actual summit of Mauna Kea.

[Susan-M]

That was a good compromise for us - we considered a tour (too expensive and took too much time ... I think they start around 2 p.m.) and considered renting from Harpers (some poor reviews about them turned me off of that idea) and since we had been to the summit of Haleakala (and were going again on that trip) we decided to forego going up to MK summit. But the star gazing program was really good, and by going up an hour ahead of sunset and hiking up the cinder cone across from the visitor's centre, it was an interesting experience. And, it was very inexpensive ... just the cost of gas.:)

[mikeerdas]

That was a good compromise for us - we considered a tour (too expensive and took too much time ... I think they start around 2 p.m.) and considered renting from Harpers (some poor reviews about them turned me off of that idea) and since we had been to the summit of Haleakala (and were going again on that trip) we decided to forego going up to MK summit. But the star gazing program was really good, and by going up an hour ahead of sunset and hiking up the cinder cone across from the visitor's centre, it was an interesting experience. And, it was very inexpensive ... just the cost of gas.:)

 

Sounds great, thanks Susan! :-)

[mikeerdas]

I'm finding it a bit absurd that no one offers tours from the Visitor's Center (easily drivable to that point from all I've gathered) to the summit, where a 4x4 is either advised or required. Current plan is to drive to the Visitor's center in a non-4x4 rental vehicle and participate in the stargazing program. But I'm wondering if I'll have Summit Regret once there.

 

I don't want to pay $200/person for an 8 hour tour that just happens to include the summit. But I'd love to get to the summit without the hassle of a full tour or renting a $150/day 4x4 vehicle.

 

Are there truly no alternatives? Have thought about emailing the two major tour companies and seeing if, for a reduced fee, they could take me and my wife from the Visitor's Center to the summit and back to the Visitor's center. Especially if they weren't booked to capacity. I wonder if they'd go for it. Not sure how much they'd ask me to pay if they did.

 

I suppose another option would be seeing if my wife and I could hitch a ride with someone else who has a large 4x4 vehicle from the Visitor's Center to the Summit and back. Especially since on Saturdays they have the range escorted tour. I'd pay for the privilege of hitching along. Anyone ever done this, or thought about it? Again, seems absurd to pay $400 for two adults just to get to the summit. And yet I think it would be quite cool to do so.

 

Since we'll be on the Big Island 4 nights and three full days, I suppose we could drive to the Visitor's Center our first full day there, stargaze at the Visitor's Center. And if we still felt Summit Remorse, to possibly rent a 4x4, at the exorbitant rental price, the very next day. Don't like that idea partly due to the $$$ and partly due to the hassle of driving a large vehicle that I'd be unfamiliar with.

 

Any other options for summiting I've missed? Certainly can't hike it--too long.

 

Our first full day in Kona will be this coming Saturday, May 17th. Thinking I ought to have played this like a Cruise and seen if anyone wanted to cost share for a rental vehicle. But this is an overland trip for us. Wish some enterprising soul out there would arrange tours just *from* the Visitor's Center to the Summit and back. Possibly for $100 a person rather than $200 a person for the whole day. Or $50/person. Something more reasonable than $200/person for an 8 hour tour I don't need. Either there's "no" profit in it or the Park Service hasn't authorized such a thing. Again, seems strange to me.

Edited May 13, 2014 by mikeerdas

[Susan-M]

My husband had 'summit remorse' when we got to the visitor's centre. He was even tempted to take our regular rental up there, until I reminded him that we'd have to be prepared to buy the vehicle if something happened to it while driving it up there. We decided to leave it until the next trip and see how strongly we felt about it then. In the end, we had a great time climbing the cinder cone across from the VIS and watching the sunset there. And the star gazing program was excellent ... they have several telescopes, and also point out stars and constellations with a laser light ... all very interesting.

 

You could try to hitch a ride up ... but two problems I see with that are 1) the liability that the driver has in taking people he doesn't know up to an elevation of almost 14,000 ft (where altitude sickness can be a problem) and 2) the risk that you take going with someone who might be doing it for the first time and might not be aware of how the altitude will affect them.

 

I don't know about the other option (trying to get a partial tour) but I think they do the longer program partly to acclimatize to the elevation.

 

Have a great trip! ... and when you get back, let us know if you went to the summit or not :)