Pohaku Quotes

“I was driving down alone from the summit of Mauna Kea to Hale Pohaku. Out of the dark appeared a beautiful Hawaiian princess on a horse in the middle of the road. I hit the brakes hard as I thought I was going to hit her. We spent some time looking at each other and I was wondering why she was there. I looked away, looked back and she was gone. Many years later I discovered that her name was Poli’ahu, the snow goddess of Mauna Kea, and I now understand why she contacted me.”
― Steven Magee

“Where would my suspected hypoxic organ damage come from? High altitude astronomy. I was working in the hypoxic environment of the summit of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii from 2001 to 2006 at the Mauna Kea Observatories. Blood oxygen SpO2 is typically in the low 80’s, which is well below the 88% SpO2 threshold where the medical profession believes hypoxic organ damage starts occurring in the human adult body. I was sleeping at the Hale Pohaku dormitory for a week at a time at 9,200 feet where the medical profession believes central sleep apnea occurs, causing hypoxia during sleep. Sleeping tablets worsen the hypoxia, which I was using and most night shift workers use. I first started to see daily chronic fatigue in this position, but was able to struggle to work to do my week long night shift.”
― Steven Magee, Magee’s Disease