Down the Tube

Jim and I spent Memorial Day exploring a lava tube. It's a few miles past the entrance to Volcanoes Nat'l Park, makai of the 23 mile marker.

We were a bit nervous about being in the cave and considered turning back more than once. I was afraid our adventure would become a little more then we bargained for as we climbed over several piles of rubble inside the cave. (and I mentally recalled the 4.7 earthquake they had in Volcano the previous week.) But we continued onward as curiosity got the best of us. I'd say we went a good mile into the cave. The book says the cave goes 1.5 miles, but we turned around when crawling became necessary. We didn't dress properly. If you go I recommend jeans and gloves. And don't forget extra flashlight batteries!

There were some pretty amazing features in the cave like a long "horse trough" filled with pahoehoe lava, and stalactite-like, curly-Q lava hanging from the top of the cave.

This is where we finally turned around

My favorite section of the cave:


Weird curly-Q stalactites:

The horse trough: