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Cavern Crawling |
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But that’s exactly what I did recently, with Phil Carollo of Kilauea Caverns of Fire as my guide. I figured if I was going to do something outside my comfort zone I’d do it with Carollo, who has been in and out of portions of that 36-mile subterranean labyrinth hundreds of times and holds a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The company’s tours begin at openings in the Kazumura system that are situated about 10 miles south of Hilo on the Big Island. The system was formed between 500 and 700 years ago during an eruption of the Kilauea Iki crater that lasted 60 to 150 years. Molten lava gouged out the intricate honeycomb of tubes that fan out from the system’s central corridor. Some of those chambers measure 80 feet high and 100 feet wide. About 50 miles of passages in the system have been mapped but, according to Carollo, hundreds of smaller tunnels, entries and exits have not yet been explored. “The system is safe and walkable,” he reassured my group, “but blockages at numerous places require you to backtrack and reenter at different spots. Our tours cover sections where you don’t have to do this.” Kilauea Caverns of Fire’s three-hour Adventure Tour is intended only for those who are in top physical condition. Participants should expect challenges such as jumping from boulder to boulder, climbing into and out of the skylights and crawling on their stomach for 30 feet through two-foot-high spaces. However, if your clients can traverse rocky, uneven terrain and climb a short flight of steps they can, like me, easily do the 75-minute Scenic Walking Tour. Before we entered the lava tube, Carollo outfitted us with hard hats, flashlights and gloves (the oils on our hands, he explained, could wreak havoc on the fragile underground environment). Curious, excited and a bit nervous, we began descending into the darkness, the beams from our flashlights illuminating a wondrous new world. Every few steps, Carollo paused to point out amazing geological features, including stalactites and stalagmites — and columns that were created when stalactites and stalagmites met. It was like browsing in a gallery showcasing nature’s artistry. We marveled at dozens of spectacular lava sculptures in the shapes of roses, fish, oak trees, a bat, a unicorn, a pig wallowing in mud, the Statue of Liberty, the Madonna and more. We also noticed a metallic sheen on the walls called glazing, which apparently occurred when the temperature in the lava tube got so hot it melted the fascia of the rock. “It’s like pottery in a kiln,” Carollo said. “Heat turns minerals such as iron, aluminum oxides and silica into different colors, including red, yellow, orange and iridescent blue and blue-purple. The silver glazing is pretty much from basalt, and it’s paper-thin. If I were to poke my fingers into the silver part of the walls, I would break through most of it.” Contraction cracks formed intricate patterns on the walls, floor and ceiling of the lava tube. When molten lava cooled, it hardened and shrank, leaving behind countless fractures that in some spots were very long and deep. Carollo likened it to the lines that are visible when a mud puddle dries. “It’s an effect called cleaving,” he said. “The minerals in the rocks cleave or separate in different ways, resulting in designs that are quite dramatic.” Halfway through the tour, Carollo asked us to turn off our flashlights. There we stood in complete darkness; without sight, our other senses became more acute. I breathed deeply, not identifying any scent, and thought, “So this is real fresh air.” I was aware it was cool (the temperature in the cavern is always 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit), and that water from the rain-soaked soil above us was dripping slowly and methodically nearby. Stripped of my vision, I thought I’d be scared and panic. Instead, I felt strangely calm — deep in the caves of Hawaii’s Big Island. Meet off Highway 11 between Mountain View and Kurtistown. Directions will be given at the time of booking. Tours are offered daily by appointment. Participants must be at least five years old for the $29 Scenic Walking Tour and at least 14 years old for the $79 Adventure Tour. Participants must wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes. Long pants are required for the Adventure Tour. |
Crawling through Hawaii lava caves opens undiscovered world
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We could have been relaxing on the famous Green Sand Beach at South Point of the Big Island of Hawaii. But in the spirit of adventure, we were instead exploring the world underground.
I had convinced my husband that it would be neat to go hiking to see flowing lava at the Kilauea Volcano on the first night of our weekend getaway, and then get up early the next morning to go caving in 1,000-year-old lava tubes.
He was agreeable, even after twisting his ankle on the initial hiking excursion, which lasted past midnight. Once we got back to our cabin at Volcanoes National Park, we understood why each room had a Jacuzzi.
But we weren't about to let our sore muscles get the best of us. Watching the orange glow of waxy-looking lava hiss into the ocean had intoxicated us. We wanted to see tunnels formed by the molten stuff.
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Kula Kai Caverns and Lava Tubes: (808) 929-7539 or 
Ken's House of Pancakes: 1730 Kamehameha Ave., (808) 935-8711. OK, there really is another place to go in Hilo if you are hungry. Ken's is like a local Denny's, and the tables are a little sticky. But they'll bring a carafe of coffee and leave it at your table, and the omelets hit the spot. And most importantly, it's open 24 hours a day. Most items are less than $7.So we caught just enough sleep to wake at the crack of dawn and drive to South Point in search of a labyrinth of lava tubes at a place called Kula Kai Caverns.
To get there, we punched in a pass code and entered a remote neighborhood built on lava rock. Then we saw our guide's landmark, a thatched hut that looked like something out of Gilligan's Island.
Our tour guide, Kathlyn Richardson, led us into the yurt and handed us spelunking helmets, lights, gloves and knee pads to gear up. We looked like coal miners without the soot, and we were about to go on a two-hour spelunking tour. So she tested us a little. Would we like to try shimmying up parts of the cave and crawling around in tunnels?
We were game.
Let me just say my previous experience in caves was limited to a guided tour years earlier on a heavily traveled pathway at Kentucky's Mammoth Cave. While it is considered the granddaddy of American caves — and the longest cave in the world — I saw only the easy-access "tourist" part of it. No shimmying through narrow passageways was involved.
And I'd seen Thurston Lava Tube, a major attraction on the drive around Crater Rim Drive at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. But that was just a peek into a cave-like shell.
I'd never seen much of caves or could explain the difference between stalactites and stalagmites. Somehow, the idea of exploring a pitch-black volcanic cavern still appealed to me.
And that's just the kind of tourist Kula Kai Cavern founder Ric Elhard wants to educate.
"I started crawling around in caves when I was 12 years old," said Elhard, a California native who bought property on the Big Island because he knew there were caves underneath it. He and other cavers have since mapped out miles of lava tubes that crisscross the area.
"We're not doing big numbers, but we saw huge potential," Elhard said. "We want to be more of an educational tour. We want people to learn and understand about the archaeological aspects of caves."
He and other guides lead small groups, even children as young as 5, through parts of the caves on tours that last from easy half-hour strolls to more challenging half-day explorations. When my husband and I were there, it was just the two of us, following Richardson into a braided maze she knew by heart and getting a taste of massive chambers and small spaces formed by volcanic gases rising through cooling magma 1,000 years ago.
A National Park tour, it is not. It's a fledgling operation that's loosely organized, and sometimes the battery-powered lights on the well-used equipment go out. But it's definitely an adventure tour.
We broke a sweat, despite the cool 68-degree temperature inside the cave, and had to watch our footing navigating craggy rocks that seemed to grow out from above and below. One of the most interesting parts was when we turned off our head lamps and sat in the dark, listening closely to dripping water and the sound of ourselves breathing.
I'll admit I liked climbing and scrambling over loose rocks much better than belly-crawling through the tight spots. The crawling part made me think about being swallowed by hot lava as I tried to untangle myself from its pointy fingers.
But squirming around on my hands and knees gave me a feeling not just for overcoming claustrophobia but for looking at a volcanic island from a different perspective.
I thought about the cave dwellers who must have used the spaces for shelter.
I wondered how long the kukui nuts, which contained oil that Hawaiians used to light like candles, had been left on the rock shelves that we passed. I pictured the lava flowing through the walls I could now touch.
The tour captured my imagination. Yes, I could have spent the day relaxing on the beach. What I did instead made me feel like an explorer. And to me, discovering a world I'd never seen before made the vacation feel complete.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.