Friday, August 31, 2012

Spelunking For a Swim


Scrambling over rocks, taking time not to hit my head or scrape my arms as it's all lava rock and rougher than sandpaper, I make my way into the shallow opening taking me to a dark place, a quiet place.  No one but us in the middle of no where on the coast.
"So, you climb huh?"
"Yup."
"So, you're not afraid of heights?"
"I was, but I decided that was a fear I needed to get rid of."
"What about claustrophobia?"
"I am a little bit, but I'll be fine."
"Great."
And we head into darkness.  Lucky for me, there are two things always in my backpack...a luna bar and a headlamp.  Both of which I was in desperate need of at that time.  Black Diamond don't fail me now.
Everything is sharp, except for a foot-wide level pathway down the right side of the tunnel.  This lava tube is about 8 feet tall at it's tallest from the pathway and about 12 feet wide, it's spectacular.  A perfect oval shaped tunnel leading deeper and deeper into darkness, toward the salty sea.  I hug the wall on the right as when I look left I notice there is a a 10 foot drop to sharp rock below.  We head under a natural skylight, I see a tree above and think to myself how nice it would be to be sitting next to that tree rather than under it, far under it.  The skylight lights our way for another 20 feet and then we round a bend and are back in darkness, dependent on our lights to keep us from missing any vital steps.
"So that's all water next to you by the way."
"No it is not."
I surprise myself with my quick snappy retort, but everything looks dry and foreboding in this tube.  He quickly finds a pebble along the wall and tosses it into the center of the tube.  He's right.  It's water.  The clearest, most beautiful, undisturbed water I have ever seen in my life starts rippling about 3 feet from my left foot.  It's like something out of National Geographic.  As our lights shine through the ripples, the tunnel no longer feels so scary.  It's got water, I like water, I feel comfortable around water... okay, I can do this.  We continue, deeper and deeper into this tube until we come to a final bend where a large pool of water sits, again, undisturbed and so pure.  We leave our packs and my headlamp (not waterproof) behind and continue on.  It's high tide.  The springs are slowed during high tide because they cannot flow freely from the tube out to sea.  Without warning, my friend jumps into darkness creating a splash of epic proportions, light in hand.  He turns around and looks at me hopeful that I will jump right behind him, but my nerves are starting to get the best of me (I hate when they do this), chickeny moment... I start thinking about earthquakes (grew up in California, helloooo) and how no one knows where to come look for us if this thing collapses, never mind the fact that few know where this place is anyway.  I sit down.  The water is cold, breathtakingly cold.  It calms me down.  Chacos still on I slide on into the water.  Instantly everything is better.  I figure if a cave monster grabs my foot, I will at least be going down in a beautiful place.  We swim with the light illuminating one of the walls and relax in the cool climate of this little, dark, quiet paradise.  I'm told normally we would have been able to swim further down into the tube but because of the full moon, the tides were dramatically high and filled in the tube deeper than normal.
The silence was deafening.  Picture a snowstorm where you are standing outside and the snow is falling so heavily around you that it muffles out all sound.  A silence so pure and intense that it almost hurts your ears as they strain for sound.  That is what it was like deep in this tube away from any movement.  Pristine and calm.
As we make our way back toward the light of day, I cannot help but be thankful for that little twinge of fear. Now that we are heading out, naturally I am braver and take the lead out of the cave, maybe because I am suffocating for the reassurance of sunlight who knows.  Given the chance again I would not hesitate so much, but then again, I accomplished something, even if it was small.  I won a little internal battle with myself that day.
The rest of our day took us to a lagoon full of sea turtles (so many turtles), a warm water spring, a pair of lone forgotten Prada sunnies and a relaxing swim with Dude Crush and Squirt in the layered water of cold and warm (I didn't pee I swear).  The lagoon has so many fresh water springs feeding into it that there are layers of cold fresh water flowing over the warmer salt water.

A jeep ride back up the bumpy gravel road and a much needed shady spot to relieve my poor nose from the sun.  Day well spent.
It's days of random adventure that keep me happy.  I know it doesn't work for everyone, but try to let yourself recharge every once in a while by doing something fun and out of your normal routine.  It reminds you that you are alive and well, what could be better than that?

Aloha from this little lava rock,
M.

"The idea is to die young as late as possible." ~ Ashley Montagu