Caves, like underground and stuff.

On Saturday I went to Pagat Cave and it was fantastic.  This hike, along with the hike to Tarzan pools contained the wild car parts that roam the jungles.  It is a little strange to see worn out, burnt out pieces of cars and trucks laying around the jungles, but I guess as they say "only on Guam".  The trail is on a highway  and if you park on the opposite side, you might get run over, but that's ok.

You have to walk down a steep path before climbing down limestone cliffs to get to the freshwater swimming pool  that is underground.  It is also filled with cockroaches, but you win some, you lose some.  It was the scariest thing that I have done since I have been on Guam.  I am absolutely terrified of being underground, encased in darkness and with the possibility of being trapped there forever.  I once had a panic attack while stuck in my car having to wait for traffic during the Fargo flood of 2009, I called my mother in a panicked frenzy screaming and crying because I was so close to my apartment I could see my garage but cars weren't moving and I could feel my legs starting to cramp.  Yes, my fear of tiny places is worse than my insane fear of spiders and having to touch my own hair when it is no longer located on my head anymore.  

This is the entrance to the hiking trail, everyone brings candles and trash anyway.

Walking into the jungle.

The trail leading to the limestone cliffs.  One of the students made sure to ask the Taotao Mo'na permission to enter the jungle.  They are the ancient spirits of Guam.

This was a portion of tree roots that you have to climb through to continue down the limestone cliffs, we all dubbed it The Door.

This was the entrance to another smaller cave, but we didn't go inside  this one. I don't think it actually leads anywhere.

This was a clearing in the trees next to a limestone bluff. People believe that unexpected clearings like this are due to the Taotao Mo'na

This is the entrance to the freshwater pool.  We brought candles, but no candoles.  

This the first entrance to the cave, you walk under the formation and there is a second opening above you that looks out into the trees.

This is a smaller opening in the cave, but we did not go into this one either.

Since there is no light (OBVIOUSLY) we took down candles to light up the path, it is really slick and even my hiking gloves were useless on the limestone.  If you even shift your weight, you will most likely fall down.

There's a low bridge, but apparently not low enough for me to duck under.  Its about five feet high here, so everyone else had to maneuver around it except for me.

This is a picture taken right underneath the low bridge, the candles are on rock formations in the first shallow pool.

Really bad photo that you can't really tell what it is, basically the same picture as above.

You can sort of see the water reflecting here.

I have no idea if I am wet or covered in sweat in this photo.

This was with just the small flashlights we had.

This was on the way out of the cave, still very dark.

This is the large pool, you wade through the first pool of water which is about 2.5 ft deep and crawl between a small opening in the rock wall and you come into an large opening with another pool of water that is about 5 ft deep.  Neck high for everyone else, I was swimming.

This is what the pool looks like when it's lit up.

This is the large opening that is covered by the trees and roots.

This is what you see as you crawl out of the cave, the only light comes in from the large opening in the rocks.  As you crawl out of the cave, you leave it from an opening in the rock on your right.

This is the small opening that you enter and exit from.

Better photo of the large opening.

On my way out of the cave.  My body still hurts from climbing up the granite cliffs.  The parks department has put in climbing ropes that help people up, but I thought it was easier to just climb using the rocks.

My body still hurts.