Kate and I went on a little adventure in the Lava Tubes in Kaumana Caves park, just outside of Hilo. This is the first time I have ever really adventured into a cave with out a guide.
We spent a couple of hours exploring the cave. There was stair case that descended down into the cave where it had previously collapsed. We explored both sides of the cave. The cave system was mostly easy going. There were many different types of formations. It was constantly dripping on us. Sometime the ceiling was 40 feet tall and times it was only a couple feet tall. I am guessing we went about a mile total. To the right, the cave looks to have been intentionally collapsed. We probably could have 
shimmied around and gotten past it, but this was our first time out spelunking and did not want to get in over our heads. To the left the cave comes to a skylight where you can climb out. We could have kept going, but again we had had enough for one day and decided to head back into town and get some lunch at the Hilo Burger Joint. We are considering doing some more spelunking in lava tubes. These lava tubes last had lava in them in the 1800s, which makes them relatively new. Some of the lava tubes on the islands are miles and miles long.
