Emesine Cave, Saddle Road (Hawaii Island)

On our (Baron, Cecelia, Janice and I) recent trip to Hawaii Island (the Big Island), the theme was supposed to reflect “caves” and “fire…” Meaning, we were going to explore lava tubes and see live lava!!! As the first adventure on our trip, Emesine Cave was an excellent choice since it was only a 40 minute hike off of Saddle Road. Meeting up with friends (Dan and Paige) who lived in Hilo, finding our way to the trailhead was easy.

We parked our cars up an unpaved road, near mile-marker 22 of Saddle Road and the Powerline trail. We’d walk in from here on, at a locked gate.

After a short trek of scenic lava fields and kipukas (kind of like islands of land… often forested/vegetated, surrounded by lava flows),

…we arrived at what looked like a 50′ diameter sinkhole on the right-hand side of the road, where the roof of a lava tube had collapsed.

Gearing up for the darkness, we mounted our headlamps and started heading into the cave on the right side (see previous photo).

Once inside, we were immersed into smorgasbord of amazing geological features.

Roots and shimmers of gold fungus covered the ceiling of the lava tube,

…as well as high densities of stalactite formations!

Along the sides of the cave, were smooth ledges (or rails?) of bronze lava. Never seen anything like it, although I’d have to admit that I haven’t been in very many lava tubes on the big island before, haha.

Another usual find were childhood buddies, “Pac-Man” and “Blue Ghost…” Don’t do it Pac-Man, TURN AROUND!!!

About 30 minutes into the cave, we came across several openings with light coming through them… The first was a small skylight, which made highlighting Cecy and Paige easy using some long-exposures.

The tube then seemed to “donut” around a wide-set pillar, connecting on the other side in a lighted area.

Choosing to follow the left fork, we encountered a large skylight, in which the roof of the lava tube here had also collapsed… I believe the right fork allows you to spelunk further into the darkness.

The broken down lava rock made for fairly stable footing to climb out of the skylight.

Not knowing exactly where we were relative to the entrance point, we made the call to turn back and head out the way we came. We had heard the rest of the cave is similar to what we had already seen, and we had a tight schedule of adventures to adhere to. 🙂

Awesome place with some great people. More adventures soon to come!!!

NOTE: Though the hike to the cave was only a ~ level 2.5 miles from our cars, the ground was very uneven and unstable. Many of us were glad to have brought shoes with ankle support, since the terrain made it easy to roll an ankle or trip. The air was fairly cool before entering the cave, but as we got further in, the temperature dropped significantly. Afternoon showers are supposedly common on the big island, we encountered some pretty good rain on the way back to the cars. Therefore, having some extra layers and rain gear definitely helped us stay warm. The cave may also be home to organisms that may not be well adapted to the presence of other organisms (including humans). Our local friends mentioned that it may be best to clean our gear before entering, and not touch anything on the roof or walls of the cave. If attempting, you may want to take the above info into consideration. Any other questions? Just ask!!!

Aloha and mahalo nui for visiting… Come back again soon!