Big Island · Saddle Road
Lake Waiau
Waiau
Lake Waiau (Hawaiian: Waiau, "swirling water") at ~13,020 ft (3,969 m) on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea — one of the highest alpine lakes in the United States…
The full story and narration are in Mochi Premium.
Lake Waiau is one of the most sacred sites in Hawaiian religious practice. Do not enter the water. Do not collect water or anything else. Do not leave any offering of your own — not stones, not coins, not flowers, nothing. Leaving "offerings" as a non-practitioner visitor disrupts the active religious tradition that the site is in. Do not photograph anyone in protocol or ceremony. Stand back from the lake's edge. For most visitors, the right move is to view the lake from a distance, from the Access Road pullout, and not approach it at all. The altitude is severe — thirteen thousand feet, no facilities, no oversight.