Lion's Head - March 15, 2008

On March 15th, eight hikers set out to climb up to Lion's Head, a rocky outcropping above Marpo Valley on Tinian. This is my third hike to Lion's Head with the Saturday hikers since we started hiking last September. I wanted to do this hike one last time before leaving Tinian in April.

After meeting at 8 AM, at Grace Christian School, we drove to the island's public well in Marpo Valley. I usually park a little closer to the end of the road than I did this time. This time, I parked next to the bend in the road that was just pass the entrance to the well. As we got ready for the hike, another truck pulled in behind mine. It had Mony in it, and he was going to join us on this hike.

As we set off on the hike, I was surprised that we were next to a cliff, which came to within a few feet of the road. I don't remember this cliff coming this close to the road from my previous visits to this area. As we hiked along this cliff, there were a lot of shelters used by the Japanese during World War II. Below is a picture of one of these shelters, with two bottles in the bottom of it.

There were about 4 or 5 of these caves or rock shelters along this little cliff which we were following. Below is another shelter that is made up of several large rocks that are at the base of the cliff. In the picture, you can see another bottle on the floor of the shelter.

Mr. Sakurai, or Uncle Pedro as he likes to be called, who is pictured below in one of the caves, left offerings at many of the Japanese sites on this hike, as he is doing here. His father died here on Tinian during World War II.

Next to the cave pictured above was an old sledge hammer, which is pictured below. The dead leaves in the picture, with the sledge hammer, are from the bamboo grove that is very near this cave.

In the picture below is a cache of bottles that was near a Japanese shelter. Most of these bottles are beer bottles, but most likely they were used by the Japanese to catch rainwater, during the U.S. invasion of Tinian.

As I rounded some small trees near the cliff, which we were following, I saw the land crab, Cardisoma carnifex, pictured below.

About a quarter mile along the cliff, we came upon the old water pipe that ran from the old Japanese water well in Marpo Valley to the top of the Carolinas Plateau, pictured below. This pipe is about 18 inches in diameter. When I first started to hike in this area, trying to find a way to the top of Lion's Head, we used to follow this pipeline to the cliff. I had not seen this pipe for about 10 years. It was nice to see that it still existed as I remembered it.

In the picture below is the tree called paipai in Chamorro, Guamia mariannae. It is an common endemic understory tree in the limestone forest.

This tree is very similar in appearance to gulos, Cynometra ramiflora, and they are found in similar habitats. The way to tell them apart is to look at the leaves. Gulos has compound leaves made up of two large lower leaves and two smaller upper leaves. Paipai has a single lance like leave, as shown in the picture below.

As I was leading the group, I noticed a Tinian Monarch fly off the nest pictured below.

In the nest was the egg. I had thought that this egg, pictuced below, was laid by the Rufous Fantail, Rhipidura rufifrons. I will have to send this picture, and some other pictures, to a friend of mine, who did a study on the Tinian Monarch in the 1990's, to see if this is a Monarch's or Fantail's egg.

For about the first mile of the hike, we walked in a transition zone between tangantangan forest and limestone forest. After this mile we entered pure limestone forest. Below is a picture of Mony walking in the transition zone, just before we entered the limestone forest. The last half mile of the hike, just before Lion's Head, is in secondary tangantangan forest. The hike to Lion's Head is a little under a half mile one way, and with an elevation gain of about 500 feet.

One of the common trees in the limestone forest is the nunu tree, Ficus prolixa. Below are three pictures of an especially large nunu (banyan) tree. As always, it is hard to take a picture of such a large tree, since you can't get far enough away from it in the jungle to get all of it in a single picture.



Because of all the Japanese defensive structures in this area, the fighting must have been very intense during the U.S. invasion of Tinian. This was one of last areas the Japanese were pushed back into before their last stand on the backside of the Carolinas Plateau. So below is another picture of a large 6-inch shell, which are fairly common on Tinian, that we saw on our way to Lion's Head.

Below is a picture of a second nest that we came upon that had an egg in it. It is a little bit different from the first nest in which we found an egg.

The egg was blue, as shown in the picture below. As I said above, I will have to send these egg pictures to a friend of mine, and find out what she can tell me about them.

Another tree that is commonly seen in the forest is the tiger claw tree, Erythrina variegata. This is a fairly large tree. Below is a picture of its flowers, high up in the canopy.

Wild sour orange trees are very common in the forest. They can be found in both the limestone forest and the secondary tangatangan forest. Usually you will notice the fruit on the ground before you see the tree that produced it. Below is a picture of one of the oranges on the ground.

This wild oranges are very sour and locally are called lemons, even if they are much larger than a normal lemon. Below is a picture of the oranges still attached to the tree.

Finally, after the long walk in the jungle and climbing one small cliff, we made it to Lion's Head. Of course, it is easier now to find Lion's Head, since I have it position on my GPS and I have been to it six times since last summer. Below is a 360 degree video of the view from Lion's Head.

For this hike, the weather was perfect for going to Lion's Head. There were only a few clouds and a fairly steady wind. These weather conditions made it easy to see Saipan from Lion's Head, as show in the picture below.

Below is a picture of Mitch and Judy sitting on Lion's Head with Mt. Lasu in the background.

In the picture above, Judy and Mitch are sitting on a fairly flat area that is just below the highest point on Lion's Head. In the picture below are Mitch, Masa, and Mony standing on the highest point on Lion's Head.

To the east of Lion's Head is a second rock promontory. The picture below shows me sitting at the end of this promontory. This second rock outcropping is not visible from the eastern side of the island and is rarely seen. It would only be visible if you were in a boat on the western side of Tinian.

The picture below is toward the top of Carolinas Plateau, towards Suicide Cliff. I always enjoy this view. Suicide Cliff was where the Japanese jumped into the ocean instead of surrendering to the Americans. To the Japanese, it was better to commit suicide than to surrender, because there was no honor in surrender.

Below is Mony standing between Lion's Head and the second rock outcropping. He was trying to get pictures of me standing on the second promontory and of others walking out to it.

After visiting Lion's Head, we headed back to the truck. It was a fairly easy walk back because I could follow the track that my GPS created on the way up. Of course, it is very hard to follow the exact same trail back when traveling cross country. One of the things that we found on the way back was a fairly large stone wall, which is in the picture below.

Behind the wall was a deep hole or cave. In the picture below are Mitch and Mony seeing what is in this cave or hole behind the wall.

We came out of the jungle where I would have normally parked the truck to start this hike. The picture below shows Judy looking back at where Lion's Head is located. The yellow arrow is pointing at Lion's Head.

I wanted to just get in the truck and drive back to the village, but everyone else insisted on taking a group photo. Below is the group photo. In the photo, from left to right, are me, Masa, Kimberly, Judy, Uncle Pedro (in front of Judy), Mony, Mitch and Erica.

This is always a good hike because of the different things you see on the way to Lion's Head. I don't think I have ever walked the same path to Lion's Head and back in all of the times I have been there. Just because I parked in a slightly different place this time, we got to see many more Japanese shelters than are normally find on this hike.

As always, I would like to thank Mitch and Judy for contributing additional photographs for this posting. I will have to rely on them for the photos for the next hike, since my wife has taken my camera to Bali for a week.

The boonie bee count was one on this hike. I got stung on the wrist as we hiked back from Lion's Head. I think this was the only bee nest that we saw on the whole hike.

The next hike will be to the West Field area. This area is just to the north of the current airport on Tinian. We will visit the Shinto Shrine located here and look for the remains of the SeaBee compound that used to be in this area. I have explored a little bit of this area, but I really don't know what we will find, besides the shrine. Most of the hike will be through tangantangan forest. We will meet at 8 AM, on Saturday, March 22, at Grace Christian School.

Everyone Is Welcome On These Hikes.

March 2008 Hikes

We will be doing the following hikes for March. This will most likely be the last set of hikes I will be leading on Tinian. I plan on leaving for the U.S. Mainland sometime in early April. So, if you have been meaning to come on one of the hikes, this will be your last chance.

All hikes meet at 8 AM at Grace Christian School on Saturday.

March 1, Saturday - Circumnavigation of Lake Hagoi. We will start on the southwest side of Lake Hagoi, where an Okinawan village from the Japanese times was located. It has been years since I have visited this site. From here, we will try to walk around Lake Hagoi staying as close to the water as possible. Most likely we will not see the lake because of the Pago and tall reed. I will even show the hikers the best way to visit Lake Hagoi, which should be done right at the end of the dry season. We might even try to see Lake Hagoi at this point, so be ready to get wet and dirty.

March 8, Saturday - Exploration of the Harlem area by North Field. Harlem was the location for the old asphalt plant when the SeaBees built North Field. This area is on the south west side of North Field, just past the turnoff for the Shinto Shrine on top of Mt. Lasu. From this area we will walk to the cliff line above it and see what is along the cliff. I have not been to the cliff in this area before.

March 15, Saturday - Lion's Head. We hike to the rock outcropping above Marpo Valley, on the north end of Carolinas Plateau. I always enjoy this hike and this will be the third time we have been to Lion's Head since I started the Saturday hikes, click here to see the November 17 hike and here to see the October 6 hike.

March 22, Saturday - Exploration of West Field. We will start at the West Field Shinto Shrine. From here we will head toward the south and try to find the foundations for the old SeaBee base that was located near the shrine. We may even end up on some of the old runways used during World War II.

March 29, Saturday - The Old Japanese Canon. We will drive to the old Japanese canon just past the dump. After looking at the canon, we will follow the cliff toward the north. I know there are some interesting caves and tunnels near this area, so bring a flashlight.

Because of the dry season, be prepared to meet boonie bees!

Everyone is welcome to join us on these hikes.
Just meet at Grace Christian School and be prepared to hike.

Lion's Head Videos - November 17, 2007

Mitch Evangelista took some video with her camera. So, I decided to try to post them on the Hikes on Tinian Blog. It looks like it worked.

This first video shows the group walking through the canyon area on our way to Lion's Head.


This second video is from the eastern promontory that is next to Lion's Head. It shows what the view looks like from this outcropping.


I hope you enjoy the videos and I will have to add more to my next postings. My camera will also take videos.

Remember the next hike is this Saturday, November 24, to the North Point area to view a latte site and two small hills of Coke bottles. Meet at 8 AM at Grace Christian School.

Lion's Head Again - November 17, 2007

On November 17th, I led 13 people to the rock promontory called Lion's Head that is above Marpo Valley on Tinian. Nine of the hikers where from the Upward Bound program at Northern Marianas College, Tinian, including the program coordinator, James San Nicolas. The rest were people that had come on previous hikes with me. They were Rick, Mitch, Erica, and me.

It was a nice day for the hike. The sky was clear with just a few clouds. Additionally, I knew exactly where Lion's Head was located because I had marked its located with my GPS on the October 8th hike. The only problem I had was that I did not have my camera with me this time. My wife had taken it on her trip to the Philippines, she and my daughter are currently on. So I am very thankful to Mitch and Rick for providing the pictures that are in this blog posting.

Every time I lead this hike, I see new things. I don't think I have ever followed exactly the same path up to and back from Lion's Head. That is what makes this hike so interesting, and maybe one of the reasons why I have done it four times since August of this year.

The start of the hike was about the same, we left the truck in the usual parking place and headed out through the tangantangan forest toward the cliff line that I follow to a draw that leads to Lion's Head. This time we ended up walking through some small canyons that followed the cliff line. As usual there there many bottles and rock walls, which were the remains of Japanese defense structures during War World II.

Below is a picture of the group as we took a rest. We were about a third of the way to Lion's Head and the hardest part still laid ahead. Luckily we had to only climb two cliffs on this trip. On past trips, we have had to climb three cliffs.
At the last cliff that we had to climb to get to Lion's Head, I found an old Japanese shelter, were I let everyone rest while I looked for a way up the cliff. Rick walked along with me, while I explored the cliff line. A little distance from the shelter where I had left the group, I found one of the notches in the cliff that I had climbed before and that was fairly safe to climb. Rick waited there while I went back to get the rest of the hikers.

When I got back to where Rick was waiting, he said that there was a coconut crab in a crack between two rocks. Below is a picture of the crab in the crack.

James and two of the Upward Bound students got the crab out of the crack and took it to the top of the cliff. I encouraged them to let it go since we were not on this trip to hunt coconut crabs.

They let the crab go on a nearby tree. I hope that it got away okay. One of the things I try to encourage on these hikes is a respect for nature. We should only take pictures with us and leave footprints.
Below is a picture of a flower of Arbus precautorius, also called rosary beads, crab eye, or old man's eyes. The plant has very poisonous seeds with only three seeds needed to kill an adult. It grows as a vine that has leaves that sort of look like tangantangan leaves. This plant is found throughout tropical Asia and Southeast Asia.

Below is a picture of the leaves and seeds of Arbus precautorius. The seeds in India were used as a unit of weight called the ratti. In more modern times, because the hardness of the seeds, they are used in decorations and rosary beads. If you have these seeds around, you should make sure they are out of the reach of small children.
Finally we made it to Lion's Head. Below is a picture of everyone climbing on to the top of Lion's Head.

Below is a view of the jungle that is on the terrace below Lion's Head.

I have a logbook that I have placed on Lion's Head. Every time I lead a group of hikers to Lion's Head, I ask them to sign the logbook. In the picture below, we all took a long break while the logbook was being signed.
There is a second, higher promontory to the east of Lion's Head that I always like going to. In the picture below, you can see the backside of Lion's Head as seen from the second promontory.

The picture below shows the view, looking down on the jungle, between Lion's Head and the second promontory.
Only about half of the group went to the second promontory to enjoy the view. In the picture below, you can see me standing up and enjoying the view, while other hikers climb upon the promontory.

Two Upward Bound students look over the edge of the second promontory in the picture below.
Below is a view of the cliff line that makes up the top of the Carolinas Plateau. The picture is toward the southeast from the second promontory, next to Lion's Head.
The picture below shows Mt. Laso and the upper Marpo Valley, going toward Masalog. The rise in the right foreground is the start of the Pina Plateau. This picture was taken from Lion's Head.
In the picture below, you can see Saipan in the distance, with Mount Tapotchau clearly visible. This picture was taken from the eastern promontory.
As we hiked back down from Lion's Head, I tried to use the GPS to follow our path back. I did follow it for a little ways, but soon gave up (I need to wear my glasses to see the GPS screen, but then I can't see where I am walking.) In the picture below, you can see the group walking thought the jungle, with the roots of a pandanus tree visible on the right side of the photograph.
After cutting my way through the jungle, I took a rest next to a banyan tree while I waited for the rest of the hikers to catch up. Banyan trees are believed by Chamorros to house Taotaomonas, spirits of the ancient Chamorros. The Chamorro name for banyan trees is Nunu.
After walking a little farther, we can out on the ranch that was near the truck. Everyone was glad to be back, especially after I had to clear a path through about a seventy-five feet of grass to get out into the cleared area of the ranch.
As always, everyone enjoyed themselves on this hike. It is one that everyone remembers for the rest of their lives even if they never go back to Lion's Head.

As for the boonie bee count, by the time we reached Lion's Head, three of us had been stung, including me. I think two more were stung on the way back down, but I really don't know, since the boys were teasing each other and the girls about bee stings and nests. I had expected more bee strings because of the nice weather we had for the last week.

The next hike will be on November 24, Saturday. We will be going to an area by the White Cross, up on North Point (also called Ushi Point). We will explore a latte stone site and two small mounds of coke bottles from World War II. The ground is fairly level and through tangantangan forest. If time and interest permit, I would like to go an look for two atomic bomb assembly buildings near this area. We will meet at 8 AM at Grace Christian School.