Fiveways Pot

Tom, Will, Claire & Ray

The first key to a successful trip down this one is finding it, as Pete & Matt had discovered on the previous (aborted) KCC trip. A GPS is absolutely essential, especially on the sort of murky day we had. Even with a GPS, we still seemed to be walking randomly across the fellside… and yet, somehow, we ended up at the correct shakehole.

The entrance climb sets the theme for many of the pitches, being a bit tight and awkward at the top. It’s an easy enough climb, but a short handline is useful, mainly because you can’t see where your feet are going until your head has popped through the hole. At the bottom of the climb, I set off down the slope to what I thought was the first pitch and was rather disturbed on 2 counts. First, there didn’t appear to be any hangers and, second, it appeared a bit on the tight side. Luckily Will found the actual 1st pitch in the totally opposite direction. In keeping with the general theme of the cave, the pitch was a bit tight and awkward at the top, soon opening out.

Next comes the Tonga Trench – a steeply descending rift, neatly divided into about 10 massive shored steps like a giant’s staircase. This is some feat of engineering. Then there is a reasonably tight short blasted crawl, leading to a short climb down a shored shaft. I thought this looked a bit intimidating from the top, but it was easy enough to climb down the shoring. Another short crawl then leads to Blade Runner pitch. A y-hang rebelay (from opposite walls) a few metres down is my sort of rigging and gives a great hang. Will had some choice words for Claire who he blamed for giving him a drenching on his descent. Was it deliberate or not? The debate continues…

Another short crawl leads to a 5-way junction. Apparently this is not the feature after which the pot was named! The way on is via the passage immediately to the right. We didn’t spend any time exploring the other 4 ways.  The next pitch (My Left Foot) is reached after crossing a few holes in the floor – nothing too scary though. Mt Left Foot is another fine pitch. At the bottom, however, is an awkward section requiring climbing up a few feet and traversing before dropping down again. The next pitch is reached soon and is quickly followed by the last 3 pitches. The last pitch is a bit tight near the top, but soon opens out.

Tom decided to forego the last pitch on this occasion, presumably thinking it would be awkward enough to get back up the other pitch heads. Can’t say I blame him. As is the way on Dowlass Moss, the bottom is pretty uninspiring. A low, wet crawl apparently leads to a tiny sump, but none of us could muster the enthusiasm to take it. So there was nothing left to do, but begin the long upward journey.

Will offered to derig and, surprisingly, no-one argued. I went up first. Near the top of the bottom pitch I heard something fall. I didn’t know what it was until I reached the top of the pitch and noticed that the case in which I carry my phone was open. Bu88er! My phone must be lying in pieces somewhere far below. Hopefully Claire or Will would be able to pick up most of the pieces on their way up, largely to avoid littering. Poor Will put a lot of effort into the job, exploring a ledge partway up, but no sign of anything phone-like. What a mystery!

The mystery was resolved when I reached the bottom of the next pitch to find my phone lying there, thankfully intact… and still in working order. It must have fallen out of the case on that pitch instead, presumably near the bottom.

Meanwhile, Will was cursing my shiny new tackle bag, struggling with the length of the cord. Claire had never heard such language! Apart from that, the journey out went very smoothly and we were back at the cars shortly after 2pm. Given the early hour, what could we do but retire to the Marton Arms for a debrief after another great trip. Thanks all!

Photos by Will (mostly) and Ray