Crack and Cave

Taking a break from the Never Before Hike, we decide to revisit the Crack (or some calls it a cave), and the cave above it. The old trail, from Chalan Kalabera, to the entrance of the crack has been more or less obliterated by thick growth of trees, bushes and the mother-in-law's-tongues. The alternative trail from Chalan Pale Arnold should be more clear. We meet at the junction of the two roads, under the recently fallen taotaomona tree. At 6:00 a.m. Chops, CB, Doc, Ewok, Scout with dog Boy, and new comer Brian, await by the tree when Thor, Sparky, Rexplorer, and CC join them. We walk down CPA to find an entrance. In the beginning the "trail" is quite overgrown, but we are able to plow through to reach the clearing, climb up toward the crack. 

In the clearing moving toward the cliff. Thor, Doc, Ewok and Scout take a look-around. This area has some interesting stuff to investigate.

Chops peeking from behind this taotaomona tree.

 

Under a big tree, below the cliff line, a large amount of broken pottery is scattered on the ground, together with broken beer bottles, evidently left from war time. Here is a collection of blue and white cups, bowls and plates. Many of the pieces of pottery have been lost over the years, probably picked up by some hikers. We are careful to always leave our finds.

 

Finally at the crack. Doc takes some pictures first. This will be the only photo of Doc, as he leaves us after going through the crack.

Boy follows and then says, "Come on, everybody, this is going to be fun!"

Brian trots into the crack...

Chops a bit apprehensive, but appears brave.

Sparky takes a good look all the way up through the narrow openings between the rock walls.

Rexplorer bringing up the rear, stepping up onto the floor of the crack.

Just ahead, Scout squeezes under this large boulder that has fallen from above and is wedged between the walls. The space between the walls becomes narrower, and most hikers have to remove their backpack to make it through. 

Exiting from the crack, we begin hugging the cliff and climbing up a steep trail for our next destination. Partly way up, Chops finds a nice resting spot with a view of the ocean. Scout and Ewok join in. 

The trail becomes increasingly steep and rocky. Chops and Thor figuring out the best way to climb up to reach the cave.

THE CAVE. Brian and Scout finish looking deeper into the inner caves. Scout and Boy take a closer look at the war relics displayed on the rock. It appears that some items there are now missing.

Ewok entering into the middle cave. From the middle cave, one can crawl into a channel to look through a small "window"at the underground chamber. Most hikers take on the challenge and marvel at the sight.

Thor is all smiles after viewing the chamber and having to twist and turn to get out and up.

This is part of the underground inner chamber. It stretches out further, and leads to a yet deeper pit.

(Check out the photo gallery and see if you can identify a few of the curious bodies.)

A closeup of the war relics. (The metal stake used to be here.) 

After caving, we decide to climb a little more to the hill above the cave. There we find a nice shady area for snacks, and group photo:

Sparky, Ewok, Chops, Scout, Boy giving CC a thorough face cleaning, Thor, Rexplorer, Brian, CB

Ewok finds this iron stake to "stab" himself with. The stake, as it turns out, comes from down below on the war relics display table. Someone has brought it up to the top. 

We climb back down to the steep cliff hugging trail and retrace our steps back to the road. CB uses a backward descend technique while Chops, Rexplorer, and Thor each find their own way down.

Another group photo: Thor, CB, Rexplorer, CC, Brian, Boy, Chops, Scout, Ewok, Sparky.

View of the crack, on the left.

The 2-mile hike is a picture of busy feet moving, moving...

Photo Gallery

Whose legs?

Can you identify who are these three people peeking into the inner chamber?

Kalabera Cove

After two cave exploration hikes, for our third Never Before hike, we choose to head to the ocean. With Typhoon Dolphin's recent visit, we figure we will see some exciting wave actions. 
On Sunday, we meet at the entrance of Kalabera Cave. The road from Bird Island to the Cave is muddy from the storm. By the time we arrive at the Cave, the wheels are completely covered in red mud. At 6:00 a.m. Efrain and Martha are there waiting, soon Wonder Woman and her guest Yuri arrive, then Chops, Ewok join Thor, Sparky, Rexplorer, and CC. We wait for Vlad for a few minutes, since this hike is from his recommendation. At 6:15 we begin our walk up Chalan Kalabera, turn left on the grassy driveway.

Rexplorer, Efrain, Wonder Woman, Yuri, Ewok and Martha on the grassy driveway.

Very happy and colorful hikers enjoying the cool morning air. The terrain is flat and the scenery is very pleasant.

Soon we come to the barbed wire fence. Deciding on our own "right to roam", we crawl under the fence, with Rexplorer' assistance. Ewok gets down low.

Thor gets help from Rexplorer and Chops, and makes it over.

After the grassy field, we weave through a forest of trees along a dried river bed. Soon we come out to an open field, and a view of the ocean.

Approaching closer to the edge, Yuri, WW, Ewok, and Efrain marvel at the scene in front of them.

Rexplorer and Efrain checking out the treasure on the ground, while others are scattered about among the rocks looking for interesting discoveries.

Near the edge of the cliff, many broken bottles are strewn on the ground, evidence of much drinking taking place in time past.

Just below the cliff is the cove. We watch large waves roaring toward the cove, building up the surfs, and churning into frothy white foam inside the cove.

Wonder Woman examines and translates the writing on the bottles, as Sparky, Yuri, Ewok, Martha, and Chops listen closely.

Thor ventures out close to the edge to take a closer look at the coast for a possible trail north.

A broken piece of pottery with a beautiful design.

A collection of broken bottles.

A few of the many bottles still intact. From this point, we follow a clear cow path north until we reach a "dead end". From there, we push through some thick bushes toward the shoreline.

Efrain, WW, Yuri, Ewok, Rexplorer, Martha, Chops reach the edge of the cliff and are rewarded with another view of the cove.

The outer cove. Waves crashing into the rocks. Notice the small waterfall streaming down. There is a stream and a culvert that brings water to the cliff line. Kagman is in the background.

This beautiful little flower looks like the guava flower, but it grows on a low bush. Name, anyone?

Lo and behold, we see Vlad, newly christened with the hiking name of Indie, aka Prof. Indiana Jones. He has caught up with the group.

After leaving the cove, we hike south on an open trail along the coastline. We reach the top of a cliff and marvel at this view of a plateau below the cliff, and possibly some caves. The area is called Puntan Nanasu. From here we are not far from Hidden Beach and Kingfisher.

Scattering about and looking for different things of interest, Thor, Sparky, Chops, Yuri, and Martha getting ready to move on.

15 year old Yuri from Japan and attending school on Saipan. This is her first hike.

Morning sun casting long shadows on Sparky, Martha, Thor, Indie, and Chops, as they take a last look over the expanse.

As we leave the cliff, we come across this contraption. No markings or any obvious indication what it is for. After looking it over, no one has any idea, except Chops thinks it may be a seismic detector.

A group of different looking mushrooms, spotted by Ewok

Everyone agrees that it's time for snacks. We find a peaceful spot under the trees and enjoy a most pleasant rest. The boys seem relaxed. Efrain, Indie, Ewok lounging, while Rexplorer reaches for more snacks.

On the way out, we leave the private property through this gate.

Back to Kalabera Cave to pick up our cars. Front: Yuri, Wonder Woman, Efrain. Back: CC, Ewok, Indie, Martha, Thor, Sparky, Rexplorer, Chops.

The hike is very pleasant and mild, the scenery beautiful. At a distance of about 3 miles, our three hour venture is a five-sneaker hike!