So Taco Tuesday was better than expected. They were even better than I remember. I was not real hungry so I just ordered two tacos, but after I inhaled the two I had to order a third lol.
When I was living here in Maui last year my friends would always tell me about this crazy hike called Commando. I heard all kinds of stories about how awesome it is, but I never made time for it. This time I did. This morning we woke up early and headed towards the famous hike.
The hike starts out just hiking up a trail that dead ends into a moderate size creek. We hike/swim up the creek for I would guess to be about half a mile. It was tough because of the running water and the moss covered rocks (super slick). I was basically crawling on all fours so I wouldn't fall too hard. After that we came to this section that was covered with thick long intermingled vines that we had to negotiate our way through. Just past the vines we came to this little pool. We had to swim across the pool to a small waterfall which was the end of a lava tube. It was a simple trek through out the first part of the lava tube. The top was open and it wasn't too slick or steep. Then we came to what looked like a dead end, (LOL) but not quite. It was about a 10ft water fall straight up. Keep in mind that the width we of the tube was only about 4ft across, and we had to climb up the fall through the rushing water. It was crazy...I mean there was a ton of water rushing down, not just a little trickle. To climb it we had to shimmy our way up one foot on each side of the tunnel while the rushing water was trying to knock us down. After the first three people make it up I didn't think it would be too bad, but then the 4th person was climbing up and the one thing that we were all scared of happened.... he tumbled down. I couldn't believe what I just saw; he was 10ft up in the air nothing but jagged lava rock below, and he just dropped straight down. It happened so fast there was nothing that anyone could do. He hit the ground and I did not know what to think or do. As soon as he hit, he looked up at Brandon and said "I am ok" he kept repeating it over and over. He stood up and insisted he was ok. I thought he was just in shock. I made him turn around and let us look at his back and his head to check him over, but there was nothing. I was sure that I was going to see a huge gash or broken bone, but there was nothing not even a scratch. I couldn't believe it...after that horrific fall he didn't even have a bruise.
So after the big scare we make our way up the fall and this time we are very careful and spot him a little closer. We continue up stream and enter the cover section of the lava tube. This part was pretty sketchy as well especially considering what had happen just before. Once we enter the main portion of the lava tube we loose 95% of the light. So we are basically in the pitch black walking in this narrow tube, and every 15 ft or so we have to feel out way up a small fall. In between some of the falls we had to swim across. It is a weird feeling swimming in the pitch black not knowing exactly where you are going. After the lava tube it was just easy hiking through the forest. We did have three cliff jumps to finish off the gnarly hike and I was not mentally prepared for those. The first jump was a little scary because it was in a narrow spot with a bridge over head, so we had to make sure not to hit the bridge with our head when we jumped off. The second jump was just HIGH. I don't know exactly how high but probably around 50ft. It's definitely the highest cliff jump I have ever done. The last jump was just a small one but we had to hit a sweet spot to avoid any accidents, but wasn't too bad.
This was an awesome hike I couldn't believe everything that we had just done. I really wish I had pics of this adventure, but it would have been tough bringing my camera along. I may do it again with a disposable cam...we will see.
When I was living here in Maui last year my friends would always tell me about this crazy hike called Commando. I heard all kinds of stories about how awesome it is, but I never made time for it. This time I did. This morning we woke up early and headed towards the famous hike.
The hike starts out just hiking up a trail that dead ends into a moderate size creek. We hike/swim up the creek for I would guess to be about half a mile. It was tough because of the running water and the moss covered rocks (super slick). I was basically crawling on all fours so I wouldn't fall too hard. After that we came to this section that was covered with thick long intermingled vines that we had to negotiate our way through. Just past the vines we came to this little pool. We had to swim across the pool to a small waterfall which was the end of a lava tube. It was a simple trek through out the first part of the lava tube. The top was open and it wasn't too slick or steep. Then we came to what looked like a dead end, (LOL) but not quite. It was about a 10ft water fall straight up. Keep in mind that the width we of the tube was only about 4ft across, and we had to climb up the fall through the rushing water. It was crazy...I mean there was a ton of water rushing down, not just a little trickle. To climb it we had to shimmy our way up one foot on each side of the tunnel while the rushing water was trying to knock us down. After the first three people make it up I didn't think it would be too bad, but then the 4th person was climbing up and the one thing that we were all scared of happened.... he tumbled down. I couldn't believe what I just saw; he was 10ft up in the air nothing but jagged lava rock below, and he just dropped straight down. It happened so fast there was nothing that anyone could do. He hit the ground and I did not know what to think or do. As soon as he hit, he looked up at Brandon and said "I am ok" he kept repeating it over and over. He stood up and insisted he was ok. I thought he was just in shock. I made him turn around and let us look at his back and his head to check him over, but there was nothing. I was sure that I was going to see a huge gash or broken bone, but there was nothing not even a scratch. I couldn't believe it...after that horrific fall he didn't even have a bruise.
So after the big scare we make our way up the fall and this time we are very careful and spot him a little closer. We continue up stream and enter the cover section of the lava tube. This part was pretty sketchy as well especially considering what had happen just before. Once we enter the main portion of the lava tube we loose 95% of the light. So we are basically in the pitch black walking in this narrow tube, and every 15 ft or so we have to feel out way up a small fall. In between some of the falls we had to swim across. It is a weird feeling swimming in the pitch black not knowing exactly where you are going. After the lava tube it was just easy hiking through the forest. We did have three cliff jumps to finish off the gnarly hike and I was not mentally prepared for those. The first jump was a little scary because it was in a narrow spot with a bridge over head, so we had to make sure not to hit the bridge with our head when we jumped off. The second jump was just HIGH. I don't know exactly how high but probably around 50ft. It's definitely the highest cliff jump I have ever done. The last jump was just a small one but we had to hit a sweet spot to avoid any accidents, but wasn't too bad.
This was an awesome hike I couldn't believe everything that we had just done. I really wish I had pics of this adventure, but it would have been tough bringing my camera along. I may do it again with a disposable cam...we will see.
1 comment:
Wow! That sounds like a freaky nightmare. I got claustrophobic just reading about swimming in DARK lava tubes with waterfalls. I am so glad everyone came out okay... all FOUR did make it out, yes? Did you have to trek all the way back the same route you came in?
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