Post date: Jan 23, 2011 12:01:48 AM
Cavers: Steve, Al
A Saturday afternoon trip to push the dig at the downstream end of the cave.
Although the weather had been dry for a week water was flowing down the gorge as far as the beginning of the wide, flat area that the dodgy path drops down to. Here there are some deep rifts sinking into a lower cave system. Going upstream we found the two entrances and chose the unsurveyed one with the dogleg as it was open. At the dogleg there was some water flowing in and a small pool on the floor, but after this the passage was dry as were both the pitches. We left the digging tools at the second pitch and took the high-level traverse from it to drop back down to the stream - it was a stream now with water coming in from one wall. The way on was sumped (possibly could be ducked). Instead we took a look at some high level stuff, climbing up above the loose slope into some muddy, chossy rifts and small tubes. We found a potential dig, leading up, and went back for the crowbar.
On the way back we climbed above and around the two large boulders on the high-level dogleg at C on the survey. Here a slot up led to a junction, the left route closed down or could be pushed back downstream but the right opened out into a lovely rift passage with a stream. Climbing up this led into a really nice aven, 10 metres high, with a climb up a waterfall at the end. Flood debris in the roof of this aven indicates a rather impressive flood level! Steve climbed up in front of the waterfall over some boulders and an awkwardly jammed timber to the original entrance (blocked at the time of the survey in 1994 hence dotted line). I followed and we went outside into the gorge before dropping back down to the lower entrances.
We re-entered by the surveyed entrance after clearing out its blocking timbers, completing what's probably the first trip to use all three entrances! Picking up the crowbar and new poking stick we headed back to the high dig. Steve pushed this through two squeezes to a small chamber with a couple of ways on. I followed but after getting clobbered on my hip by a rock which fell from the wall i lost a bit of enthusiasm. Steve though was full of enthusiasm and despite my misgivings insisted on digging to the right. I was certain this was going the wrong way, back upstream, but Steve dug for some time. Eventually he admitted that it was perhaps the wrong direction and turned to the other way, which could be pushed through a tight rift (capping needed?) to connect downstream of the low tube in the main passage.
We headed back out, choosing the original entrance again as it's probably the nicest. (Care needed on the boulders at the entrance which are a bit shoogly.) Afterwards we poked around in the gorge, and wandered upstream to the waterfall.
A.