For our fist adventure in this region we decided to summit the big knob (a large hollow limestone outcropping). Thankfully there is a ‘trail’ up the back and it is only a light scramble to the top.
The view from the top is amazing (I can see my house from here), but it sure is a long way down.
We then decided to find the entrance to the knob’s hollow innards. John (the crazy owner of the Cave Lodge) told us to look for a small hole in the ground which no sane man would enter.
i sure hope there is another way out.
Me and Ori (an Israeli we had been traveling with for a while)went down the hole while Breanne stayed outside in case something went wrong
After shimming down a very narrow passage (no way of getting out this way) we noticed some ancient smashed pottery (apparently this cave used to be a burial ground thousands of years ago). We continued to down the small passage, and just as the claustrophobia was setting in we made it to the main chamber.
but how to we get out? no way we can make it out the same way we came in.
after some exploring we found a way out, but it was quite the squeeze (good thing I passed on that last bowl of pad Thai). Sorry but the camera stayed outside the cave (it would not have fit through the entrance or the exit)
Finally we were out but on a small ledge halfway up the knob, but on the wrong side (the left side in the pic).
what to do? look left but no path seems evident… look right and again no paths seem evident. look down… better not do that again… look up and it looks like an easy climb to the top… so up we go.
what seemed like a short easy climb quickly turned into a terrifying climb/bushwhacking struggle to the top (which was MUCH farther that we thought). we could not go back down, so up was the only option. There is nothing like hanging off a dead (hopefully not rotten) piece of bamboo a few hundred meters of the ground to get ones blood pumping.
finally after about 1 hour we made it to the top… now lets never speak of it again.
Here are the rest of the pics:
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