Lancaster Hole – Cape Kennedy

Lancaster Hole to Old Kent Road & Cape Kennedy

Ami & Scott

This trip was meant to be King Pot – which I had been excited about for ages – so I was pretty gutted when rain stopped play. But I needn’t have worried, as Scott was on hand to show me some bits of Easegill I hadn’t explored yet.

On a rainy sunday it was not surprising to find Lancaster already rigged, but since it was chucking it down Scott rigged under them quickly, even using the deviation I hadn’t noticed before to try (unsuccessfully) to keep us out the water.

From Stake Pot we took the high route, but could hear the stream way absolutely roaring underneath us. We went through to see Painter’s Pallet (gorgeous!) and then searched for the window through to Old Kent Road, as Scott wanted to find the Chocolate Box, having missed it on a previous trip. Here, in situ ropes make for a fun ascent up some shafts, one of which involves squeezing through a very awkward slot at a rebelay. We discussed if there would be a better way to bolt it, but we’re not sure there is!

At the top a traverse over a big (but narrow) drop is absolutely full of pretties – well worth the climb! There are so many straws at all levels it’s quite nerve wracking trying not to break them. There was a right hand turn (what we were looking for) at the pitch head, but not only was it over a gaping shaft, it also seemed impossible to proceed without breaking a lot of straws, so we went on. Scott plunged down the next right hand turn, but after quite a lot of squeezing, he was forced to back out the way he came, so as not to damage the formations and crystal floor. The Chocolate Box had eluded us for now.

We decided against the round trip from here as one glance at the Third Aven reminded us of the water at the surface, and we didn’t fancy landing in the streamway.

Scott then led me to the far reaches of Cape Kennedy. The nav for this was tricky – I’d like to return to cement it in! It’s a great trip though, despite both of us being far too hot in our winter woolies for such a physical route. Cape Kennedy is absolutely stunning and really worth the effort. We even found the calcified bat skeleton next to the Fire Hydrant.

An awesome trip full of little surprises. A read up suggests that both the right turns do end up in the Chocolate Box – perhaps you just have to move glacially to get through without breaking anything? I’d like to go back and try. Thanks Scott – another teeney tiny bit of Easegill explored for me.