Katnot Cave

Darren, Emma, Vikki, Alec, Maz (3rd KKC trip), James (2nd KCC trip), Ray

A short novice trip, fearlessly led by Darren. I’d never been to Katnot before, so I was looking forward to this one. The clocks had changed the previous weekend, so for the first time this year we were changed and at the cave entrance in daylight. It was still a bit cold, though.

The trip started in a most unexpected fashion, with Darren leading us straight to the entrance! And what a nice entrance it is too. Unfortunately, after the recent rain, it was a bit on the wet side, which was a bit of a theme through the whole cave. Darren led off with his train following. The main passage is a good size and liberally decorated with flowstone of various colours, red being the most common. Careful not to touch it though… it doesn’t half stain your oversuit. Progress was a bit difficult at times against the fast flowing water.

It’s quite a photogenic cave and we stopped at various points for Darren to take a few snaps. We passed a few side passages, but didn’t take any of them – perhaps we were leaving them for the way out. Vikki and I did stick our heads into one, which looked quite nice (dry, anyway), but we didn’t go far as we didn’t want to lose the others. Eventually the roof lowers and the main passage continues as a (very wet) crawl, with the main flow coming in from an inlet a short distance in. Even after the inlet, the main passage was still very wet, although the flowrate was much less, so progress was easier.

With the roof getting progressively lower, various people decided to turn back at various points. Only Darren, Alec and James made it to the bitter end. Well done guys. Everyone was now thoroughly soaked and getting a bit cold, so we beat a hasty retreat… ignoring all the side passages in our hurry to get back to some dry clothes.

The trip didn’t take long at all, so it was still half light when we emerged. As we were getting changed, who should drive by but our Chairperson Sophie. If that wasn’t the perfect reason to stop off at the Station Inn for a pint I don’t know what is.

A great evening. Cheers Darren!

Photos by Darren.