Wretched Rabbit

Chris D, Jason, James, Maz, Ray, Scott, Tom

With Wretched Rabbit being newly reopened courtesy of the RRCPC, we were keen to get back into this little classic and decided on a round trip.

After negotiating the entrance climbs, we plunged down the dig into Spiral Staircase, made our way down the grotty bypass and onwards to Holbeck Junction. Quarter of an hour of scrambling down the main drain saw us at Stop Pot, veering into the flood bypass to Four Ways Chamber, before making our way back out via Wretched Rabbit Passage. Minimal drama, good exercise and a nice turnout!

Jingling Pot

Darren, Chris D, John, Miranda, James, Maz, Tom

Multi-route rigging, with the big hang, the pretty big hang and the Lateral Cleft all being rigged. The teams went their separate ways, and while Darren yo-yo’d up and down the big hang to practise for expedition, people made their way down and back up.

A bag was sent for a flying lesson down the hole in the floor of Lateral Cleft which may or may not still be down there… 

Shuttleworth Pot / Witches II

Ray, Tim K, Tim D, Sophie, Tom

This one never gets old. The midges were out in full force tonight forcing us underground as quickly as possible. A smooth descent down the Diver’s Pitch dropped us into Witches II, a quick look at the House of the Rising Sump before heading through to Painters Alley for the eye candy.

Lost Johns

Tim D, Tim K, Steve, Pete, Bob, Ray

A classic Dome-Centipede exchange, with Tim D rigging Centipede, followed by Bob & Tim K, and Ray rigging Dome, followed by Steve & Pete. All went smoothly and according to plan on the way in. Water levels were surprisingly low, not that it matters once you get past the entrance series. Team Centipede were at Dome Junction first, as would be expected, but they didn’t have to wait too long. Everyone did the full exchange, with Tim K derigging Dome and Ray derigging Centipede.

On Centipede, Steve went first, with Pete in the middle. Getting back to the cars, Ray was most surprised to find a Steve, but not a Pete. There was really only 1 possibility – Quicksand Passage! Obviously Pete must have zigged on the way out, when he should have zagged. There was nothing else for it – someone had to go back in to find him. Unfortunately, as Steve was already changed, it had to be yours truly. Thankfully, Pete was easily found and shown the correct passage.

Meanwhile, things weren’t going quite as planned on Dome. Bob had somehow managed to get lost while trying to locate the short prussic up to the window near the bottom of Dome pitch. The result was that the Tims had to partially derig the pitch and lower the rope to Bob. Bob was also a bit cream crackered for the rest of the exit, not having done much caving this year due to his broken shoulder.

Another great Wednesday evening trip!

Lancaster Hole

Originally planned as a Wilf Taylor’s trip, this had to be switched to just the top of Wilf Taylor’s with the water levels. A smooth descent from all (a big trip for our newer SRTer Maz, and Jason’s first real test of his new BMS micro rack) saw us down into Bridge Chamber and on our way down to Montague. 

Great sightseeing as usual along the route to Wilf Taylor’s and Waterfall, with pauses to admire the formations before heading up to the upstream sump of Wilf Taylor’s and a look at the slightly spooky amount of flow in Waterfall Passage. 

On the way back we took detours to look out from the top of Fall Pot and a quick glance at the Colonnades, before an efficient prussik back out of the entrance.