The "Slot Canyon" of Mauna Loa

In 2010 I wrote about a gigantic Mauna Loa lava tube here and here, too. We explored the cave going down and it went about 1.5 miles with no cave ins, but Chris and I never explored the cave heading up until recently. On Memorial we rode our dirt bikes to the entrance of the cave and explored the upper portion. We went about 1/2 mile when we arrived at a cave-in that we could not get down into without ropes so we had to quit. The cave is absolutely enormous and the upper section had many cave-ins, which allowed sunlight into the cave so we could get a good look at its features. We appropriately named the cave slot canyon because it is taller than it is wide and it's so enormous it feels like canyon from inside. Awesome!

To get an idea of this cave's size, look for the silhouette of Chris near the center of the frame.

This section had several cave-ins.

Mauna Kea sets the backdrop with the entrance to the cave in the foreground.

Looking out from the lava tube.