The Crack & Cave

Waking up with pouring rain pretty much all night, wondering if Sunday hike is going to happen. Since the advance team of Sparky, Rexplorer, and Capt. Charlie has "checked out" the approach to the Crack, and it being Chops' chosen hike, we feel the show must go on. Setting the meeting at 6:30 a.m. is roundly applauded by those who cherish the extra few minutes of sleep. We drive to the big taotaomona tree in the rain. By the time we arrive, the rain has stopped. We are happy to see Brian rejoin us for this important hike. 

Pre-hike photo guarantees that everyone is accounted for. This hike is particularly prone to "losing" one or two hikers at the end. it is on this trail that RedEye earns his name. In the front: Brian, CB, Thor, Cutie. In the back: CC, Ewok, Sparky, Chops, RedEye, Waldo. 

Although there are several ways we can start the hike, we decide to go in the very original entrance on the Unai Laggua side. We figure there is only one direction that leads to the entrance of the Crack, it is only a matter of pushing our way through the trees and brushes and debris before we reach the more open space just below the cliff. Although blue and white ribbons are used to mark the "trail" on the previous day, only one white ribbon is sighted. All the rest are completely hidden in the jungle. No matter, here Chops and company maintain a cheery attitude pushing through the mess.

A surprise find in the jungle. This upside down shell partially buried in the ground. It is a second one found in this old battleground. Another full foot-and-half shell is discovered the day before at another location. Although we mark that one with a blue ribbon, we are not able to find it as we are not on the same trail today.

A brief stop to determine our location relative to the wire fence that leads to the Crack entrance. From here some climb straight up, some continue toward the fence.

Eventually everyone arrives at the entrance, some already continue on through. Here Waldo, Sparky, Ewok and CB wait as Chops climbs up into the narrow space.

A farewell pose at the entrance, hoping Chops will remember this hike fondly.

Very happy Cutie and RedEye arriving at the Crack. 

Waldo weaving his way through the Crack.

Thor approaching the hanging boulder, barely clearing its base. After the Crack, five of us climb up the steep trail to the cave on the upper trail. The rest of the team climb up part way and wait.

The climb to the cave is steep and rocky. We are careful not to dislodge any loose rocks. It is a good cardio workout. At the entrance of the cave the display items on the rock are still there, although unfortunately some items have been taken earlier by unscrupulous visitors. After a brief rest, we decide to join the others.

The five cavers scramble downhill to join the waiting crew. Since there is not a big enough space to spread out the snacks, everyone passes bags of goodies around. It is a fun time.

Pretty mushrooms on the trail.

Making our way back down the hill. This time we take a different route from the earlier trek, going straight down hill from mid trail, going through some thick but passable field toward the road. We exit from a different trail to the main road.

RedEye is happy and relieved to arrive at the exit. 

We take almost three and half hours to cover only 1.33 miles of ground. Instead of coming back out from the entrance on Unai Laggua, we exit on Pale Arnold Road. The route map shows that we have made a big circle.

One injury occurs on the trail. Thor trips and falls, probably on the vines, and earns a big goose-egg size bump on her right shin, a bloody cut on her left knee, and another bloody cut on her left elbow. No tears...

This has been a good hike to discover the condition of the trail. It is a little bit challenging, but no one is lost on the trail, and everyone is able to enjoy this favorite hike.

Ladaren Tangke

After making sure that Ladaren Tangke, the trail on Radar Hill, is passable, we decide to take our hike on Sunday to one of our favorite trails. With car pool, we are able to drive only two cars for the six people so both cars can park at the small space at the trail head. It is clear that the area has been affected by the storm, although the sign board is still visible behind some vines and overgrown brushes.   

Taking a moment to prepare for the adventure, Thor, Sparky, Waldo, CB, and Chops are ready. The original entrance is blocked, but a new entrance is only a short distance just behind the sign board.

Waldo and Sparky checking out the new look the trail has taken on. This original forest is now  even more shaded. The humidity in the forest is thick and heavy.

Perfect condition for mushrooms

Although we are not sure which department has reopen the trail, we realize that the trail is narrow, and although headed toward the same directions, it has altered somewhat. We don't see sign post #1 or #2, here we approach post #3.

Fungus growing on tree trunk.

This same mushroom has been here for a long time, it's the same one photoed last year!

We seem to have stumbled on sign #6, after we have passed #4  and #5, and become temporarily lost in the jungle. It is a joy to find another sign post.

The trail meanders past some of the triple ribbons left behind by the bird counters who set up  thirty-foot-long thin nettings strung from several trees. These ribbons confuse us a little bit, although we are able to find our way out the one confusing segment of the trail. Waldo decides to remove some of the fallen branches away from the trail. While searching for the trail we are caught in a heavy downpour. We are all soaked through. It actually gets a bit cold!

Sparky shows off his emergency pack, ready for all occasions.

Another familiar mushroom on the trunk

Whatever are Chops, Waldo, Thor, and Sparky looking for on the ground, they sure look intense.

We recognize this cliff with many trees growing out from its face. The pink ribbons are readily visible even though at times the trail is so narrow that we are not really sure if we are on the right path (one ribbon is visible on the right). When we reach near marker 13 (we haven't really seen the marker, but we recognize the location, the last marker we have seen is #8), the trail is now detoured away from the original downhill drop, instead, it climbs just a little, then remains on level plateau...

...until we reach this narrow cliff ledge. Thor, Chops, and Waldo carefully get down to the base of the cliff. When we reach the bottom, we notice many red ribbons tied to chicken wires circles. 

The encircled chicken wire fences all have these signs attached.  Division of Fish and Wildlife is conducting some sort of studies. Maybe they are one trail-clearers?

We wander around this area for a while, trying to find our trail as we know we are nearing the exit, but no sign of Marker 16, the last marker, as yet. Finally, something resembling a trail is found, we converge in that direction.

Waldo calls out that he finds a shell. The location is marked with blue ribbons around the shell. It is over one foot long. We take a good look at it without touching it. From here we exit the park and begin walking on the "road". The road that used to be drivable is no longer a road. It is a narrow path through overgrown brushes, vines, and grass, and at times barely visible. It seems like a long, long walk, sometimes having to be careful not to trip on a hidden trunk or branches underfoot. 

Finally reaching our cars, we take off our wet gloves that we have worn for over two hours. We display our prune-looking hands.

Although we are all tired and eager to get out of our wet clothes and shoes, we decide not to waste the snacks we have brought, and should take a moment to relax and refresh. It is nice and cool. Chops, Thor, Sparky, Waldo, CB, and CC all agree that the hike is not difficult, but it is nevertheless tiring, and quite enjoyable. The hike takes us almost three hours.

Banadero

Taking a chance that the trail up to Suicide Cliff may be unharmed by the typhoon, we decide to hike Banadero on Sunday. At 6:15 a.m. Ewok, Thor, Sparky, Waldo, Rexplorer, Marcia, Giggles, and CC meet at the parking lot of the Last Command Post, near the Korean monument. We can immediately tell that the trailhead is overgrown. Fortunately we can spot the first white ribbon marking the entrance. 

Typically, a few of us scatter to find the next marker. Soon some find orange ribbons. They are informed that only white ribbons will lead us on the real Banadero trail. All the other colored ribbons will take us straight up to the base of a cliff where there are a couple of shallow caves. Soon we are locating more white ribbons. Waldo is barely visible amongst the vines, and trees. The trail is a little difficult to find at some places, but we continue to look for white ribbons.

Rexplorer emerges from his search for the trail and join the team. The trail is now pretty clearly marked.

The rest of the group have been waiting outside the trailhead, but once the trail has been discovered, they soon join us. Here Ewok, Thor, and Marcia make their way through the boonies.

Part way up the hill, Waldo and Rexplorer take a break.

Spotting the white ribbon on the tree branch, Giggles and Marcia follow on the trail.

Ewok and Giggles take a break further up. The climb up gets quite steep.

Sparky also rests.

We know we are on the right track when we reach the first lookout point. Here the rebar "fence" keeps Waldo and Thor from stepping further toward the straight drop down the cliff.

While Waldo and Thor take a moment to enjoy the view, Marcia and Giggles rest on the rocks. As the trail levels off, we are almost at the top plateau.

We know we will need to go through a field of Cadena de Amor vines. But we are surprised to find that the whole field has expanded and completely covered the previously accessible trail. Hikers start to disperse to find the exit to this creeper crawler field.

Giggles climbs over a big clump of vines to track down a possible trail.

Yay, Marcia and Thor almost reach the "clearing".

Sparky finds his way to join the rest of us for a break through.

After clearing the vine field, we continue to search the elusive white ribbons. The trail is more or less blocked by the overgrown grass and some fallen branches. When we reach this lookout point, we know we are headed the right way. Waldo takes a good look down the Marpi coast, while Sparky and Marcia continue marching. The trail eventually becomes more clear, and we are able to find the exit and meet up with Rexplorer who has gone completely off trail and comes out on top of the mountain further down the road.

The breeze is wonderfully cooling, and the park on the top is quiet. We find this shady spot under the tree to rest, talk, and enjoy the snacks. Reclining are: Thor, CC, Rexplorer. Sitting are Sparky, Marcia, Waldo, Giggles, Ewok.

Instead of returning downhill on the trail, we opt to take the road the long way. The view is nice and the sun is not too hot. Marcia and Giggles display their new hiking leg wear fashion. 

On the way down the road, we see a monitor lizard trying to camouflage among the tree branches.

Happy that the hike is a good workout. Total time including getting lost in the vines, and snacking, is about 4 hours.

Thor's Strava recording indicates the distance covered as 4.5 miles, although the time indicated is only less than one and half hours. That is the actual moving time. 

Elevation gain is 674 ft.

It was a very invigorating hike, and we are very happy to be able to return to one of our favorite trails.