Armed with tiny matchstick-size fires (forget those flaming torches of Hollywood fame), they crawled deep into the lava tubes, where they could collect water that was not only free of salt, but was also incredibly pure, having been filtered by the layers of lava rock above.
Out on the Big Island, on the western slopes of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, you, too, can go spelunking in these same lava tubes!
Cave access is just outside of National Park boundaries and, unlike the developed lava tubes within the Park that look like this:
Lava tubes are created when rivers of hot, molten lava flow from an active volcano. Ceilings and walls of the tube harden over time and when the flow eventually stops, open caverns -- sometimes vacuous and other times cramped -- are left behind.
Some lava tubes open up on land, almost like a skylight
...while others open up on to the ocean cliffs, marking a spot where the lava has once flowed right into the sea!
We started at the "office", viewing underground maps of the volcanic area. Then, outfitted with headlamps and helmets and kneepads, we struck out into the caves.
This was not a good excursion for the claustrophobic! The tube quickly narrowed and we found ourselves squeezing through tight crevasses and scraping our arms on the needle sharp lava ridges on each side.
At one point, we gathered in an open area, our boots slipping down the slanted rock as we perched, listening to our guide share tales of past explorers who had gotten an arm or leg hopelessly stuck, and perished. Visions of "127 Hours" raced through my mind!
Tension was increased as the guide instructed us all to turn off our headlamps. The immediate and absolute darkness was intense -- so dark it almost looked navy behind my eyelids -- and as our group sat in total stillness, the drips and echos of the cave mysteriously came to our ears. We were "deep in it"!
After more than 45 minutes of crawling and stretching into ever deeper tunnels, our guide stopped short. Before us laid an anthropological site dating back 10's of 1,000s of years! A scattering of 2" long torches lay extinguised alongside broken shards -- pieces of old coconut shells? of pottery? This was a site where the prehistoric islanders had come for their water. What a far cry, I considered, from flipping on the tap! The breadth of time that separated us from our meager beginnings was too wide for me to fathom.
Other spots, the guide pointed out, were used for refuge during conflict. The tubes would contract in these spots to make entry accessible for only one person at a time, making invasion nearly impossible.
Other areas hid impressive petroglyphs.
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