Sunday Hikers luck out once again. Despite pouring rain on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon, Sunday morning turns out dry and cool. Nine hikers (Handy, Cutie, Peppy, Giggles, Clark Kento, Wonder Woman, Capt. Charlie, Narumi, and Alice) congregate at the Last Command Post for a tour to the "mysterious cave" at the base of Suicide Cliff.
The entrance to the trail head is easy to miss, but it is just about two hundred feet from the big banyan tree at the intersection of Middle Road and Kalebera Road. Once we enter the trail we find it thick and dark, even though we are still near the main road. The first find is a large foundation of unknown purpose. Following the well marked pink ribbons, we meander through tall grass and a field of pretty bushes with little red berries, and then stomp through a big patch of "mother-in-laws tongues", which are sharp-tipped but fortunately not thorny, a comfort to many a daughters-in-law!
The trail comes to a barbed wire fence enclosing a large field with no animals. We begin a gentle climb and come to a big tree under which are scattered numerous broken ceramic ware and beer bottles, some of which are still intact. These are of Japanese origins and the tree appears to be a favorite "party" spot.
Soon the trail brings us back to the fence and we parallel the fence all the way up to the cliff face. Finally, the path along the cliff face leads us to the "cave" which is really more a crevice. It is a very narrow opening between two giant rocks. After all the Oooohs and Aaaaahs, and despite some misgivings, everyone succeed in negotiating through the the crevice which is about a hundred feet long. At one point, one can see a pretty large rock stuck about twenty feet overhead, an obvious rock fall during an earthquake! We see a tin bowl, with a Japanese navy emblem, resting on a little ledge. As the hiking rule reminds us, we enjoy seeing the relics and leave them where they are for others to enjoy also.
After exiting from the trail, we head uphill to the Grotto. There Peppy, Giggles, Clark, and CC decide to go down to the pool and the rest decide to stay on the observation deck. After gingerly hanging onto the rail as we climb down each step, and watching some young kids bounding down the same steps, we reach the bottom and as always, marvel at the cave and the crashing waves. On the way up we count the number of steps. There are 111 steps. Our final trail is the Santa Claus Lane. It is a "virgin hike" for WW, Narumi, and Alice.
Although the total distance we have covered is about five miles, it take us four hours as we have taken a rather leisurely pace, and everyone enjoys it!
The entrance to the trail head is easy to miss, but it is just about two hundred feet from the big banyan tree at the intersection of Middle Road and Kalebera Road. Once we enter the trail we find it thick and dark, even though we are still near the main road. The first find is a large foundation of unknown purpose. Following the well marked pink ribbons, we meander through tall grass and a field of pretty bushes with little red berries, and then stomp through a big patch of "mother-in-laws tongues", which are sharp-tipped but fortunately not thorny, a comfort to many a daughters-in-law!
The trail comes to a barbed wire fence enclosing a large field with no animals. We begin a gentle climb and come to a big tree under which are scattered numerous broken ceramic ware and beer bottles, some of which are still intact. These are of Japanese origins and the tree appears to be a favorite "party" spot.
Soon the trail brings us back to the fence and we parallel the fence all the way up to the cliff face. Finally, the path along the cliff face leads us to the "cave" which is really more a crevice. It is a very narrow opening between two giant rocks. After all the Oooohs and Aaaaahs, and despite some misgivings, everyone succeed in negotiating through the the crevice which is about a hundred feet long. At one point, one can see a pretty large rock stuck about twenty feet overhead, an obvious rock fall during an earthquake! We see a tin bowl, with a Japanese navy emblem, resting on a little ledge. As the hiking rule reminds us, we enjoy seeing the relics and leave them where they are for others to enjoy also.
After exiting from the trail, we head uphill to the Grotto. There Peppy, Giggles, Clark, and CC decide to go down to the pool and the rest decide to stay on the observation deck. After gingerly hanging onto the rail as we climb down each step, and watching some young kids bounding down the same steps, we reach the bottom and as always, marvel at the cave and the crashing waves. On the way up we count the number of steps. There are 111 steps. Our final trail is the Santa Claus Lane. It is a "virgin hike" for WW, Narumi, and Alice.
Although the total distance we have covered is about five miles, it take us four hours as we have taken a rather leisurely pace, and everyone enjoys it!
We have a wealth of Frankenstein-Speak today: Norstrom (for Noisom, my neighbor); Atemono (for Atemoya, also insists it is a sour sap); Totomono (for Taotaomona). We love you, Handy!
Here I am again. The one and only commenter. I wish I could remember how I did it. I know I started with a Google account set-up.
ReplyDeletethis is a test....
ReplyDeleteit worked! I believe you have to have a gmail account in order to be able to post comments....
ReplyDeleteI heard a little bit about your 4hour hike and squeezing between the rocks. Got me inspired! Next time I find myself up at Marpi without a bike, I'll be hiking up that way. Thanks for sharing!
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