Oba Gully

Since the Oba Cave trail is one of our favorites, but the circle tour we usually take involves too much pavement pounding, CC gets permission to park one or two cars on Navy Hill Road, by friend's house. Another one or two cars will park at Gold's Gym. To accomplish this arrangement, hikers meet up at the CHC parking lot at 6 a.m. From there Dora, Wonder Woman, Spicegirl with dog Boy, and CC drive the four cars up the hill. We park two cars on the road side, then drive the other two cars to Gold's Gym. From the gym the walk to the trail head is quick and easy.

Down the gully to begin the hike are Dora, Boy, and Wonder Woman. The trail is damp and slippery from the early morning rain.

Boy performs a graceful twist to maneuver over the moss covered rocks. Check out the determined look on his face.

Spicegirl trying to climb over this narrow opening between rocks. Note the damp spots on the camera, from the very humid air in the gully.

We go off trail at one point. Instead of going uphill, we veer to the right and end up below the trail where there are several shallow caves. From there we can see the upper trail, so we climb up the rocky cliff toward the trail. Wonder Woman finds a red ball.

Dora stands on the cliff below a wonderful fern garden. A few more boulders to scramble up, we reach the regular trail. 

We reach the first, or the lowest, cave opening. It is a bit high to climb up. Wonder Woman demonstrates the height and width of the cave. Spicegirl watches and waits for her turn.

Spicegirl is doing her camouflage act again, blending into the rocks and the surrounding flora. 

Arriving at the third opening, which is the actual entrance, we find this marker at the base of the hill that leads up to the cave. The center piece looks like a coin, but we are not able to identify it.

Spicegirl and Wonder Woman checking out the interior of the cave. 

We are surprised to see that the cave is being invaded by the ubiquitous vines, some of which have actually bored though the rocks. A decision is made to pull the vines off before they could eventually overrun the whole cave. Here Wonder Woman continues to rip parts of the vines from the wall. Dora and Spicegirl are still looking for more vines inside the cave.

Wonder Woman and Spicegirl, with Boy's help, toss some of the vines out the cave.

"This is how much vines we have eliminated from the cave!" 

Having worked up a sweat, Dora exits the cave, and to resume our hike up the gully.

Although somewhat reluctant to tackle some of the steep cliffs and slippery boulders in the beginning, Boy has now become an expert rock climber. Witness the agile and well-planned technique he uses to position his feet and haul himself up.  

Dora finds this pretty little mushroom on a tree stump.

At the end of the gully, we ascend through a forest of palms and ferns. This moss covered coconut makes a good bed for the mushrooms.

We stop for a brief snack under the bamboo forest, then make our way through another small grove of bamboos. A palapala on the left seems abandoned.

This tree is covered with ferns and moss on all the branches. It is huge, spreading like an umbrella over all the other trees and plants.

It is a short distance from the exit of the trail to our cars. We are sure Boy dog will take a long and happy nap. He has earned it. We pile into the two cars and drive to Gold's Gym to pick up the other two cars. This system works great!

Although we have hiked this trail in the past, this is the first time we take a detour and find a very interesting alternative to part of the regular trail. And we work to get rid of the messy vines in the cave. It is definitely a five-sneaker hike.