Originally Posted by
vxmike
The only caution I will advise is regarding the altitude. 14,000 feet is very high, and it's impossible to properly acclimatise. We are very active 20-somethings and still felt strong effects from the altitude. Most visitors staying at sea level on the coast will essentially be going from zero to 14,000 feet in under three hours, and you WILL feel the altitude due to lack of acclimatization. We felt dizzy and experienced headaches and loss of fine motor function, but this is partly due to the fact we spent four hours at the summit. One lady in our group fainted after half an hour at the summit. If you're elderly or have any health problems you might want to reconsider.
going!
We did the trip with the volunteer guide approx. 5 years ago. At that time in addition to the Keck Telescope you also got a tour of the UofH telescope and perhaps one more (can't remember for sure).
For altitude, it helps a lot if you plan to spend a couple of hours at the visitors center before going to the summit. This will give your body time to acclimate to the altitude. Also drink lots of fluids and this will also help prevent altitude sickness. Even with precautions some folks will do better than others. If you do feel yourself becoming ill, get down to a lower altitude ASAP and you should be fine.
I have very fond memories of this trip. We also did a short hike (maybe 1 hour) at the summit in addition to the tour before coming back down for the star party. Even if you don't want to go to the summit, the star parties at night are a lot of fun. They are always tweaking the tour offering and the star party schedule, so your best bet is to call the visitor's center to get the most current information.
--Jon