Country Caving

We usually cave at low elevations in lava fields. But recently Chris' former co-worker, Jeff, arranged for us to check out a cave on a private ranch mauka of Kainaliu at about 2,500 feet elevation. The cool air, grassy fields and mountain views were exciting enough for me, so I wasn't too dissapointed when the cave turned out to be a dud. It only went about 100 yards. On our way back to the car, a woman spotted us and told us about another cave on the property. That one was a winner! It branched off in several places and Chris started marking the turns with dollar bills so we could keep track of where we had come from. Part of it was stand-up, but there was also duck walking and crawling. Roots stretched from the ceiling to the floor, which is something our lower elevation caves do not have. This cave also had the unique feature of a cow skeleton, which was different from the goat skulls we're used to kicking around in. We spent about an hour in the cave exploring every avenue. A good time was had by all in this lava tube we nicknamed, "two dollar cave."

A lava drip ceiling hides the top half of Chris: