Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Core Strength: Sikati Cave

Today we ventured (and it absolutely was an adventure) to the Sikati Cave . . . a sector on the most remote part of the island not often traveled to except for crazy climbers and goats. It was as if we had entered another world cresting the top of the tail peak of Kalymnos: the terrain was like something out of Lord of the Rings and the ocean, now unimpeded by Telendos, went for as far as we could see. In the far distance, we could barely make out the lines of the Turkish mountains.

The hike in was about an hour: not too grueling, but longer than we thought it would be. There is a beautiful, secluded beach ~200m down from the cave which was where James & Laurel decided to spend most of their day. The descent into the Sikati cave was an easily managed series of bolts with a fixed rope and we were then greeted by more Kalymnian three dimensional rock climbing with alienish features made more dramatic by the rock sculptures climbers had built on the ground along with the occasional goat bones/carcasses from the poor goat that had misstepped along the rim of the cave.

I wish I could say that the climbing was as good as the surroundings: it was just not on par with some of the more stunning sectors we had already been to this trip. The climbing was impressively steep and long (which I love), but the rock quality was not quite as good and the grades seemed a little off. I was psyched to get the credit for flashing two 8a’s (Morgan/Adam Extension & Super Lolita), but both felt quite soft for the grade and the rope drag made for some VERY challenging upper clips on both routes but particularly Super Lolita. It felt like climbing with a 50lb goat on your back. Absolutely glad we ventured to see it and experience it, but I don’t think we’ll be making it back to the Sikati cave this trip.