Post date: Apr 3, 2019 9:01:44 PM

Cavers: Jock, Al, Steve, Claire (surface critic)

Trip time: 3 hours

Fired up by his trip to Shannon the previous day Jock beat me to the car park and got a chance to dry his gear out on one of the finest Burren digging days we've had for some time. As the second digging trip in two weeks the Burren dig is almost turning into a campaign!

No breakthrough was promised, only more grim mud and boulder shifting. After a couple of hours of this Steve and Claire joined us with a capping kit, which was useful as two large boulders had been excavated by this stage. The first was tackled with two caps, and cracked open without either cap firing. An easy win. Chuffed with his achievement, Steve whacked the second boulder and broke his hammer.

Not to be defeated so easily, the second boulder was slung up and the three of us attempted to haul it out. Without a decent lifting setup this was too difficult, and after dropping it further down we managed to retrieve it to the timber deck for future capping. After a bit of tidying up of things we left, fairly pleased with progress. It is just possible again to toss small stones down the way on.

The next stage is more boulder removal and shoring, and in a trip or two we should be well on our way back to the deepest point.

Needed: scaf or sturdy timber 2500mm long.

Al.