Cave Beyond the Crack

With howling winds, torrential rain, floods, power outage, and generally a stormy day on Saturday, we are not sure whether we will be able to hike on Sunday. At five a.m. Sunday morning, the weather looks reasonably calm. At six a.m. Dora, Bruiser, Jane and CC meet at the Flame Tree parking lot. After waiting for a while, we get in one car and head to the big banyan tree in Marpi. The trail to the Crack has been overtaken by a field of waist high bushes, and the trail head marker is nowhere to be seen. We know where we need to go, so we plunge in to make our own trail. Aware that there is a large patch of mother-in-law's-tongue that we need to circumvent, we push through the bushes, vines and some trees until we come upon a few ribbons, and locate the tongue patch. Our two trail markers are the pottery-barn, and the barbed wire fence.

At the pottery-barn, we notice more pottery pieces have been unearthed and scattered. Jane sees a capped beer/sake bottle that has an insignia on the cap. She takes a closeup photo for reference.

Some of the blue-and-white pottery pieces that appear to have been used for some sort of "party". From here we veer toward the fence, climb up until we reach the base of the cliff. A short distance later, we are at the entrance to the "Crack".

Dora at the entrance. Here the width of the crack is still fairly wide. The cliffs on both sides rise up to about 100 ft. (guesstimate).

Here the width of the crack narrows, soon one needs to turn side way and crouch to step down to a lower level. Notice the boulder that is lodged just above Bruiser's head.

After exiting the crack, we continue up the side of the cliff and climb up a very steep slope of slippery rocks for our next adventure. Jane and Bruiser lead the way.

Dora pauses on the cliff edge to take a photo of CC, who takes a photo of Dora. Soon we reach below a cave-like opening. Bruiser and Jane think it is one of those shallow caves for a quick look-see.

As we climb up to the opening of the cave, it is apparent that the cave is a deep one. This is actually our destination. Bruiser works his way down the rocky floor, while Jane stops to take pictures of the war relics on display on top of a rock.

An assortment of found items on display, including shoe soles, containers, bottles, and an iron rod. Further into the cave, we squeeze ourselves into a lower chamber. There is a small opening that leads to an even lower chamber. 

Jane crawls to the small opening to see the lower chamber. She ooohs and aaaahs with lots of amazement at what she sees.

Bruiser, with broad shoulders, finds himself a bit limited to how far he can squeeze into the tunnel and the opening for a look at what all the oooohs and aaaahs are about. Dora, being the small one, volunteers to crawl in further through the opening to take pictures of the lower chamber. CC hands over the camera, and in goes Dora.

The lower chamber has a flat floor and a lot of statues-like stalactites. 

A deeper look, further into the chamber, showing the stalactites separating the chamber into smaller areas. 

To the right of the chamber is this deep drop into another cave. 

Dora is leaning so far out through the opening that Jane decides to hold on to her ankles to prevent any accident. 

Dora comes back to us from her photo assignment.

Bruiser and Jane exiting the cave.

We are ready for our snacks outside the cave, before we climb down the cliff. Jane has the executive seat to enjoy the snack and a little rest.

Back down the cliff, using either the butt-walk/slide style, or the reverse step-down style. 

On our way back down the cliff, Dora decides to gather some rich soil for her plants.

Going through the crack again, Jane decides to video tape Bruiser. Here she is under the hanging boulder. Notice the dirt stain on her shorts, evidence that she is the butt-slider. 

Back to the entrance of the crack, for a group photo of Jane, CC, Dora, and Bruiser.

The weather turns out beautifully, with gentle breeze, occasional sun peeking through, and cool air. We proclaim this hike a definite five-sneakers!