ADAM HAYDOCK

Toothbursh cave is located just to the east of Little Brush Creek Cave in the Ashley National forest. The entrance was almost covered to the rim with snow so we climbed up and over the entrance and went down the 45 degree slope to where the 40ft drop is located.  There is a decent anchor can rig to the dead tree that is stempled across the pit or rig a long rope to a tree at the surface.

At the bottom of the cave there is a passage that leads to toothbrush hall that has a icicle column connected to the wall. The ceiling appears to be around 40ft high and continues to a sloping passage that turns into a crawl in a couple hundred feet. I recommend seeing this cave if you are in the area but I would not suggest it as a destination cave.

 Utah has some amazing mountain ranges that are famous for climbing, hiking, and general outdoor enjoyment but in some sections of Utah, there are mountains that are made up of some excellent limestone layers that allow some of the deepest caves in the United States to form and some of these caves rival my beautiful TAG region.

 I met up with Peter Hartley at his place around 7 AM so we can get an early start on the 4 foot sugar powder hike and so we can make the 2 hour drive to Logan Utah in good time. 

 The car ride was fantastic as we got to chat about future projects and other caving activities that have been happening.  It was quite the charm to consider all of the cave opportunities and find out where the best coffee shop is in Logan, that going to come in handy!

 We started up the road that will take us to the cave and along the way Peter notated the strata layers and all of the limestone in the area that has created these cave systems. It appears that the quartzite layer is a contact zone where caves develop above and below which can lead to Mississippian, Devonian, and other strata layers.

 After stopping at a few spring resurgences, we made it to the parking lot where we have to hike up to the cave. It was in the single digits, the snow was crunchy and the air was the kind of dry crisp that almost makes you cough.

 Now being a caver in the Midwest and central America, I have had my fair share of cold days caving but I never had to bring a avalanche beacon, shovel, poles, and snowshoes...welcome to winter alpine caving in Utah.

 The "trail" up to the cave consisted of a random backcountry skiers ski tracks which was actually a help as it packed down some of the snow but it was still a march up the wash in 3 to 4 feet of fresh powder. Snowshoes were a must but they even would drop into and under tree branches that would get us stuck right in our tracks. The cave itself was not that far from the road but the hike in the snow made it bit of a huffer.

 half way up the trail I realized we were walking on top of some of the smaller trees that would otherwise be eye height in the summer time. One foot after another, we work our way to the entrance of the cave...woohoo!! made it.

 The cave has a 150ft entrance pit with a snow cone at the bottom which is basically snow that fell in and is kept refrigerated for most of the year. Than there is a 30ft climb, another 80ft., drop another 30ft climb, and another 100ft drop to the bottom of the cave.   We dropped into the cave and it was around 40 degrees but dry at the bottom. It was just a couple hour trip in the cave but a nice introduction to Utah caving. As I was climbing up, my locking device on my ascender broker so I had to ride my QAS above just to make sure I had point of contact.

FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/albums/72157663639167102

The trail looked pretty similar to the Pihea trail with its green arboretum aesthetic, until it broke out into a swampy marsh with some very interesting plant life growing amongst the grassy patches surrounded by water. The tips of the grass appeared to be black and if you look at the ground, you can find the rare drosera anglica bug eater plant!

 The Alakai Swamp ,one of the wettest places on earth is home to some rare plants that few places on the planet and accommodate!

The orange Ohia Lehua and Hapuu Ferns appeared to have a different texture to them and the Pine trees appeared to have similar qualities with their leaves and pines being a little more slick and tubular in nature so the water can slide off the leaves and down into the roots.

The Lobelia is another rare plant that was really interesting to see as it looked like a miniature palm tree of sorts and the stunted Ohia Trees lie in patches around the bog.

 

I continued down the planked swampland for another mile and the terrain changed back into the cloud forest flora that I have been getting accustomed with on Kuaui. The time it takes to get the connection trails has doubled due to the plants that I kept on recognizing on my way back.

This was a fascinating place in itself due to the nature of the environment and knowing how the island was formed as it grew out of the ocean, made this Alakai Swamp that much more interesting.

Apparently there was a caldera of sorts at one time in the Alakai swamp that filled in causing water to collect at the top which is continuously overflowing where Mt. Waialeale and other 1000ft plus cascades exist.

The trade winds bring abundant moisture to this region of the pacific and with the moisture that has already collected at the top of the plateau, this forest becomes a home to some of the most delicate plants on the planet due to the abundant access to water and lack of sunlight.

The amazing structure and design of this island has created a perfect storm of beauty and a sanctuary where rare plants, birds, and life can thrive with the thick moisture in the air at the elevation that the volcanos have created over 5 million years ago.

So much to visit and see in Kauai, even watching other people negotiate around the inevitable muddy shoes is interesting to see!

I highly recommend visiting this trail system if you have a day to use and want to see some rare plants in a lord of the rings Sci-fi like environment.  You will not be able to find plants like this anywhere else on the island. Tomorrow I am off to the Waialeale Blue Hole and I cant wait to get down there and see it after seeing the top!!

After the Awaawapuhi Trail, I headed up to the tippy top of the mountain for a afternoon hike on the Pihea and Alakai Swamp trail.  I follow the winding road through the clouds as it seemed to get thicker as I got to the top and after about a 15 minute drive, I am at the foggy and surprisingly crowded top. Here I am at the top and I can not see anything over the edge or the Kalalau Valley from the top. wah wahh.....

Mokihana and other cloud forest altered plants can be found on the Pihea trail as well as the connecting Alakai Swamp trail.

The trail becomes really muddy to the point where you might just decide to run through the mud which actually will take less time and give you an an opportunity to go around some of the other visitors attempting to preserve their shoes from the inevitable mud slogging fate they will end up finding as they pursue the connection trail.  

There is a hill of sorts to walk up with mud slogging handholds and some "deepish" mud that reminded me a bit of caving back in the Midwest but it wasn't as bad as some people have made it out to be, truth be told, you will get a bit muddy but if you made it this far, chances are that you might like playing in the mud a bit, I know I did.

Once at the top, you have a choice to take a trail that takes you down to the Kalalau Trail or continue in another direction to the cloud forest and the kilohana overlook.

Heading towards the Cloud forest, the plants have altered just a bit more as I hiked towards the swamp and found that planking boards were layed down on the ground which prevent people from getting their feet wet and from ruining the ground thereby preserving the bog.

There is a fence blocking the outbreak of pigs that have eaten and destroyed endangered species of plants in the regional area so the State Park decided to roll out a fence to protect a large amount of swamp land and keep the portion of the swamp pristine, good call!!!.

The bottlebrush flowers were starting to bloom and the drosera plants can be seen if you look hard enough in the bog.  The Droersa Angelica is a rare bug hungry carnivorous plant that can not be found in may places on the planet. 

It was interesting to be in this dwarfed cloud forest with the clouds misting through the plants leaving small droplets of water dripping on the moss and ferns below.

The trail soon connected to the Alakai Swamp trail which I followed for a while.  I wrote up this trail which can be read here I decided last minute to pursue the Kilohana overlook as the clouds appeared to start to break and the chance to see the overlook as good.

I followed the trail to the Kilohana lookout and the trail took me down to a stream and back up to a plateau swampland which was sunny! Wow the sun is actually out now, I guess this is a lower more windward side of the mountain so the lookout was about to expose its precious green jewel.

There was a telephone line that was connected across this section of the trail which allowed soldiers in WWII to communicate with each other after the start of the war.  They hung out at the kilohana overlook to communicate any further surprise attacks from the Japanese.

The Waialeale Hole hole hike is at the base of Mt Waialeale which is one of the most, if not theeeee... most impressive cascade hikes that I have ever seen on the planet! A-freakin-mazing, and no wonder why Hollywood filmed Jurassic Park and King Kong among other movies, this place looks like a place time forgot.

Waialeale Blue Hole Hike Kauai Hawaii

The cliff walls dominate the backdrop and the sky as they reach over 4000ft. into the clouds and to the top of one of the wettest places on earth. At the top of  Mt. Waialeale, geologists and volcanologists believe that there use to be an ancient caldera that was built from volcanic activity rising out of the sea 5 + million years ago where the lava flows kept layering on top of one another, thus creating this massive mountain of sorts which is believed to be an ancient caldera.

Waialeale Blue Hole Hike Kauai Hawaii

At the top of Mt. Waialeale a depression was filled in by impermeable volcanic lava flows and subsequently made a cloud forest out of the plateau that is home to some of the rarest plants and swampy growth ranging from wicked looking ferns, adaptive pine trees, and altered grass lands to thrive in this wet environment. The Rainfall is estimated to fall 360 days out of the year thus making this dwarfed eco-system, a fragile habitat at the top. Since the mountain is impermeable to water absorption the water flows down through Waimea Canyon eating itself deeper into the brittle soil deepening the "Pacific Grand Canyon" on one side and flows over the massive 4000ft. cliff on the other side creating waterfalls thousands of feet in length that almost surround the hikers below.

Waialeale Blue Hole Hike Kauai Hawaii

 I had the pleasure to view Mt. Waialeale from the top the day before so I wanted to get a good view of the bottom which ended up being me dragging my jaw the whole time up the trail in pursuit of the blue hole. These falls are so impressive that it was hard to comprehend and think about how high these falls actually were.  When I was there, there must have been at least 12 muli-tiered falls ranging from 2000ft. to 3500ft. cascading down the wall. At times I felt like a velociraptor would come cutting through the bamboo brush or a pterodactyl would fly through the air towards the wall with a shrill sound of dominance in the air but the occasional tour helicopter flying over my head brought me back to reality as they continued to fly periodically for a glimpse of the weeping wall.

Waialeale Blue Hole Hike Kauai Hawaii

I got up super early, once again to park my rental at the arboretum and start out on a 3.5 dirt road hike just to get to the trailhead. My rental could have made it over the first overflow spill on the road to the next spillway, but than I would have some negociating to do with the potholes before running into a swamp of a pothole that was knee deep in water. This must be the natural filter that keeps people from continuing on the road.

Waialeale Blue Hole Hike Kauai Hawaii

 This is where the 4x4 comes in handy and a jeep to clear over the water would be an ideal automobile to have. After this crossing the road is pretty straightforward, you want to turn right at the T-section and take the left at the fork which leads to a gate, follow that to the Jurassic park entrance gate.

Waialeale Blue Hole Hike Kauai Hawaii

 It was interesting to make it to this point because this is where they had the Jurassic park gate and everything looked really familiar. The palms and the dead looking tree in the foreground became familiar and the opening to the Waialeale started to take its gigantic form.

Entrance to Jurassic Park where the entrance to the Waialeale blue hole allows hikers access to the trail head. Not my Photo.

 continuing down the road it got pretty choppy but after a half mile, you make it to a reservoir and the trailhead to the Blue Hole hike.

Waialeale Blue Hole Hike Kauai Hawaii

There was another tour company there with a guide taking people back to the blue hole and although they invited me to join them, I elected to pursue the trail on my own to get as far as I could before I had to turn around.



Waialeale Blue Hole Hike Kauai Hawaii

 It was a going to be a 10 hour trip to the blue Hole so time was running out for me and I had to make a dash for the bamboo forest and wade through the water as the helicopters started to fly over my head carrying tourists for a high overview of this place.  Now that is something I would like to see from above! Rainbows appeared out of the walls and the jungle below like we were in a biological prism of lucky charms.

Waialeale Blue Hole Hike Kauai Hawaii

I waded over boulders and large rocks in the clear water while gawking at the shear cliffs and towering cliff as it appeared to a little get bigger the closer I got to the blue hole. I ran into a waterfall that I had to climb which must be climbed to the left and that took me to some amazing viewing area wall. I continued on but unfortunately the clouds started to roll in and the threat of a flash flood was becoming more evident.  I decided to turn around about 75 percent of the way to the blue hole. booo!!! well at least I am still alive and can return another day, which is something I am absolutely doing in the very short term!! This is a drainage system for one of the wettest places on earth so care must be in consideration when dealing with this hike and flash flood danger.

road to Waialeale Blue Hole, Kauai, Hawaii.

The Blue hole is one stop but people can actually get to the far back where there is a grotto of sorts and the community of towering waterfalls which must be some of the tallest in the world.  It looks like you can almost be surrounded by this from aerial photos.  I hold this hike in high regard and I would even recommend this hike to the most jaded of hikers for its gothic green monster views. It is on my Even Further short list of places to go.  If you are not proficient with stream crossing, flash flood danger, and land navigation, than I recommend hiring a tour guide which will hike with you to the blue hole or beyond. I also ponder how this frontier would accommodate a canyoneering expedition?

Waialeale Blue Hole from above. not my photo

 

FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/albums/72157663194780316

VIDEO of the Waialeale Blue Hole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQFxwdy5W9A