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We had a plan to climb a few ranked summits near the top of Saddle Rd where it goes over the pass between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, but ended up doing something quite different. The two summits and a host of other unranked summits were all found inside the Pohakuloa Army Training Area, not the sort of place one can wander into so easily, especially when the main road is signed for No Parking and observation is quite easy. So we continued west across the saddle and stumbled into the Ka'Ohe Game Management Area on the western slopes of Mauna Kea between 6,000ft and 9,000ft. There is a network of dirt roads in the area totalling more than 50mi and nearly circling around Mauna Kea itself, mostly used by hunters. 4WD and high-clearance are recommended for the rougher sections of road that one is certain to encounter, even on the main road, R-1, that circles around Mauna Kea. There was only one ranked summit found here, Ahumoa, but there were plenty of smaller vents with official names that landed them on LoJ and our peakbagging app. We had fun wandering about for the rest of the day tagging a bunch of these before running out of time - far more driving on this day than hiking, that's for sure.

Ahumoa

The only ranked summit in the bunch and the closest to the pavement. A rough road winds its way to the summit, becoming trail. We managed to get the jeep within about half a mile of the summit and walked the undriveable portion to the top. There are two points on the crater rim that seem of nearly equal height. We visited both, but the southern one depicted on the app is the highest. The northern point has a survey monument in disrepair.

Pu'u La'au

This one is a drive-up on the edge of the Kaohe Restoration Area, where replanting of native trees has helped its recovery from decades of cattle grazing (which still takes place on the slopes adjacent to it). There is also the mile-long Palila Forest Discovery Trail, a loop that goes over the summit. We chose the drive-up route as we were in wheeling, not hiking mode.

Pu'u Okauha

A road heading SSE from Pu'u La'au for more than three miles can be used to easily access the next three summit plus a fourth we skipped because it was more than half a mile to the summit - remember we were in wheeling mode today. Pu'u Okauha was a quarter mile of brushiness and downfall that was somewhat slow. Worse was the traverse to the SE summit I thought might be higher, a very brushy and slow affair. It turned out to be about 7-10ft lower. Tom had already aborted the effort shortly after leaving the highpoint and I found him waiting at the edge of the crater rim on the southwest side. We found a much easier descent route that would have made the ascent quite a bit easier.

Pu'u Mana'o

A spur road passes along the base of Pu'u Mana'o on the east side, getting one easily within 1/7mi. A somewhat steep and loose, but relatively brush-free slope leads to the top.

Pu'u Ula'ula

Another drive-up, if properly equipped. We began to suspect that hunters had forged these rough routes up to the tops of some of the vents as a way to survey the surrounding terrain for game.

Kemole

Leaving the Kahoe Game Area, we drove quite a few miles northeast around the north side of Mauna Kea, stopping to tag this cone about a quarter mile above the road. The slopes on this one were rock and grass, the easiest of the summits we visited that weren't drive-ups.

Pu'u Nanaha

We continued for more miles past Kemole, hoping to find a descent route down to Mana Rd and an alternate exit to pavement many more miles to the north. We followed R-9 steeply down to a locked gate at the edge of a ranch and could go no further, so back up to R-1 we went. We briefly considered continuing east to find another way down but realized it could cost us a few hours' time if we had to abort and return the way we came. So we decided to cut our losses and head back. Pu'u Nanaha is found on the uphill side of R-1, about halfway back to the Keohe game area. A spur road leads in about a mile to the uphill side of the feature. A short cross-country effort takes one over a higher intervening point to reach the named point on the other side. The barren summit was in some contrast to the other summits we had visited today, some of which had thick brush, the rest at least covered in grasses.

Mauna Kea

After returning to the pavement and then Saddle Rd, on a whim we decided to head up to Mauna Kea for sunset and an easy 13er and the state highpoint. The road is signed for 4WD only, but it is well-graded and in dry conditions it is suitable for any vehicle. The last several miles, which are the steepest, are even paved to keep dust down for the sensitive telescopes that congregate at the top. I knew the final quarter mile to the highpoint required a hike, but we were surprised to find a sign at the TH instructing visitors to stay off the trail and highpoint out of respect for native Hawaiian traditions. This seems likely to be related to the continuing controversy about the building of new telescopes here and we weren't sure if the sign was legally enforceable or not. Regardless, we stayed off the trail and the summit at least until after the small crowd of sunset watchers that had gathered had headed back down the road. It was very cold outside, 24F, so most of the folks there were inside their vehicles with only short forays outside to gather a picture or two. We never did visit the summit because a ranger parked his vehicle right at the TH shortly before sunset. He may have been there simply to escort the last vehicles off the mountain so they could close the gate below, but we didn't bother to ask. Both of us had already visited the summit on previous occasions so we simply enjoyed the sunset and headed down with the others.

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