I spent a night stranded between two mountains under a field of stars. Friday, after a long and stressful week I decided to celebrate the end of it by running up Mauna Kea for the sunset and stars. At 13,700ft. Mauna Kea is one of the best places in the world to view stars. I left my car off of Saddle Road at 6,500 feet, making the summit around 12 miles away with a lot of uphill! A manic and wild run it was, wavering on the way up running into the sunset and feeling solidified and renewed running down through the darkness. The only problem was my car was broke down and would not start once I made it back. This was alarming at first but for some strange reason an incredible rush of calm washed over me. I even enjoyed the predicament in some weird way. After fiddling around in the darkness trying to get the car started I decided to just lie down and look up at the glowing sky. Luckily I had a sleeping bag, blanket, stove and hot chocolate mix. Nothing to complain about really. I was in a weird state all night, not really asleep or awake. Instead in some wacky realm induced from running for four hours at elevation, manic happiness from a clear singing sky, a sense of longing and feelings of uncertainty.
In the morning my car still would not start and I opted not to pay a ton of money to have it towed all the way back into Hilo. I asked some folks to help me push it onto Saddle Road. I ran alongside pushing and once there was enough momentum, jumped in and coasted 27 miles in neutral down into Hilo with a huge grin on my face... Out of control…. Once I made it down my car started with a stroke of luck and I was home free feeling thankful. I scribbled these words at 3am in state of tired delirium:
"Mauna Kea’s Starry Songs"
Hard times in the city
God damn
Hard times in the country
Left the dishes in the sink and
I’m going up a mountain
Heard the wild thieves are on the hunt
Trying to steal my heart
So I’m a' high flyin' up
Balancing on a thought and
Singing starry songs
Sung through my hearts voice while i'm
Stumbling and weary from the riddles
Yet harmoniously
In the midst of joy
Lookin’ for the right kind of love
To come and take me back down but
For now I’m just a’ high flyin’ up
Don’t know when I’m coming back down
Just saw him play at a small theater, singing the sweet blues all night long:
