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Aloha,

H#4 Part 3 of 3.

In this video I continue on from where part 2 ended and I make my exit.

I’m breathing a little hard because I had just spent an hour or so searching for my old connection to the continuation of the main tube and exit. I wanted to be sure I hadn’t missed it as it’s very easy to miss. I have numerous markers down there for various reasons. The one for that small opening led to nothing but a large pile of rocks. There’s a good chance that opening got buried. It wouldn’t have taken much to do so.

So now I needed to either find an alternate exit or hike back the way I came. Going back the way I came would have taken at least 5 hours so I proceeded in the direction the nice airflow was coming from.

There were a few different small tubes that all led to the same spot. Not knowing if any were large enough to also drag my backpack I left it behind and explored which one was the right one.

You can’t get lost even though it may seem like it. I left a glowstick along the way to make it easier. I also left a spare headlamp at a key location so when returning with my pack I went in the easiest tube.

By this point in the hike, my left shoulder was getting pretty bad and it would only get worse. While returning to my backpack a layer of the ceiling collapsed onto my helmet driving my forehead into either my Lumecube light or the rocks and awkwardly compressing my left shoulder. This further damaged my already injured shoulder. I also got a deep cut on my forehead and a slight concussion. I wasn’t aware of the cut until I got back to my jeep because I wear a buff to keep sweat out of my eyes.

The concussion presented itself the next morning along with a large knot on my forehead and several veins bulging out of my head. Having torn that rotator cuff 20+ years earlier I knew what needed to be done & it was going to take 6 months to fully heal. At the time of the incident, all you hear me say is “That hurt”.

The chunk of rock was about 10″s thick and roughly 2′ x 3′. I tried moving it and figured it was 50+ lbs. It fell from 4′ above me as I was crawling from a smaller tube into a larger one.

I was inside of the tube for 7 hours and the adventure in total was 11+ hours. Watch parts 1 and 2 and read their descriptions for more details.

This tube system has at least 2 more videos to complete it. Hopefully, I can do them before 2021 is over. The shoulder injury kept me from returning for several months.

I don’t show the location of these lava tubes to keep them and you protected.

No respirator is needed as it’s an old tube system with plenty of ventilation. If it’s windy sometimes I cover my face to prevent breathing in dust and lava shards. In this section, I used my helmet. I’ve been hiking this system since late 1991 and 99% of the ceiling sections that collapsed have been there since then. Even our 2006 6.8 and 6.7 earthquakes did little damage. The same with the 2018 6.9 earthquake.

I filmed this series in 2020 and I’ve yet to finish the final section because of the injuries I suffered in H#4. I’m hoping to get the last area this year if all goes well.

This time only a long version is available. I found that most viewers watched the longer versions by a 2 – 1 margin. You can always skip ahead if desired.

My Exit

Part 2 of 3

Skylight entrance area of H#4 Part 1 of 3

Images from these outings can be seen at the links below. The lava tube ones are from my Panasonic GH5.

Additional images will be added when I find the time. H#4 is older images from various years.

Hawaii Volcano Lava Tube H#1 photo gallery

Hawaii Volcano Lava Tube H#2 Photo Gallery

Hawaii Volcano Lava Tube H#3 Photo Gallery

Hawaii Volcano Lava Tube H#4 Photo Gallery

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Aloha,

H#4 Part 2 of 3.

In this video, I continue on from where part 1 ended at the large skylight. It covers the tube section right up to the point where I start my exit adventure in part 3.

Along the way, my gimbal loses its charge so the GoPro 8 is on its own. What that amounts to is some shakiness.

There’s an hour of time between parts 2 and 3 that isn’t recorded because I’m exploring the area already shown near the end of part 2. I had hoped to explore and film this one tube section along the way but I was running short on time and my left shoulder wasn’t doing so well. That only got worse as you’ll see in part 3 when it’s released.

This section is the most difficult one. I was underground for 7 hours.

I enter in the same location as H#3 but this time I head mauka (uphill).

The majority of what you need to know is in the video description. I rarely talk in these videos as the intent is for you to feel as though you’re the one hiking. If I tried to explain everything you see the video wouldn’t ever end and you’d tire of hearing my voice.

This section requires lots of crawling and climbing up and over large rock piles. The highest is roughly 30′ high. All of them are a bit unstable so it’s slow going. Part 1 takes me to the only skylight. There’s no way out there as it’s about 40′ high.

Everything started out fine but when you spend 7 hours underground in a difficult situation things will eventually go wrong. Those occur in parts 2 and 3. The good is I’m prepared mentally, physically, and gear-wise.

Like in the previous three sections, I edit out equipment-related issues like changing batteries, etc…

When lava tubes drain they leave behind numerous interesting features. They often have several layers to the system but, not all are accessible and many are dead ends.