Hawaii Caving Travelogue 2010

From the Desert of Kau and Beyond

Back in Kula Kai by Sat. Feb. 20, we attend the housewarming of Peter & Ann Bosted. Larry Flemming arrived from Alaska. Sunday morning meant more cleanup survey in the area immediately surrounding Kula Kai Caverns. As has been the case, another fruitful day of documentation unfolded.

Harry Sheck has been able to join us for Sunday surveys this year. He wrote a very informative book on Lava Cave formation. Harry is something of a specialist also in smaller caves, having worked extensively in Kilauea caldera. This turns out to be good experience for working out the puzzle of a few of the pukas with shallow, but frequently interconnecting sections of cave.

Emily checks the disto as we swing back into action.

Larry takes the hero pose. This series of caves had numerous breakdown zones, small loops under edges of pukas and confusing mini-mazes.

A cave that at first seem to be only a belly squirm, opened into narrow walking passage. Incredibly, the passage was overfilled with a lava ball that seemed all out of proportion to the passage.

The end of the cave held this suprise: Charcoal from early visitors.

What seemed like a short day of survey turned into more than a thousand feet of shots in 40 stations. Several large pukas were sketched in, and a lot of cave defined in relation.