Top Sink to Pippikin Pot

Present: Jasmine, Scott

Easegill is the nearest ‘big’ cave to where I live, and has fascinated me ever since my first trip to Lancaster Hole with the KCC. Following John and Miranda on an evening County to Lancaster through trip, I marvelled at their ability to remember the route amid so many chambers, boulder chokes, twisting canyons and muddy crawls. I was instantly keen to learn my way around the system, and had a few tentative solo excursions just before Tom C joined the club. We teamed up early on, and here was a fellow Easegill zealot – one with a formidable memory for underground places, and the ability to cheerfully suffer numerous walks across Casterton Fell in the dark. Many good trips followed, and we soon got to know our way around.
At some point, I became aware that you could do a Great Big Through Trip in Easegill – in at Top Sink, out at Pippikin. Hmmm. Maybe one day. Better check out the Wormway first, or the escape route through the Manchester Bypass, or the Link crawl. At some point, I realised that I knew the route all the way through! But other caving trips intervened, or the weather worsened, or potential partners had to cancel… it remained an untasted ambition.
This summer, I felt like I was on a bit of a roll trip-wise, and the weather had been excessively dry. When Klaudia’s trip to Hammer Pot was postponed, I leapt on the chance to recruit Jasmine to an alternative Black Book trip – the classic Easegill Traverse.
Tom couldn’t join on the day, but kindly offered to keep me company on the walk over to pre-rig Link, on the day before the trip. Young Keo was also in attendance, and reportedly laughed himself silly when I disappeared down the narrow entrance pitch into Link Pot – clearly he already has his head screwed on, and will not be easily recruited in future for any of this caving nonsense.
The next day, it was on!  Jasmine was full of enthusiasm for the trip (just as well, really), and we made speedy progress to Top Sink. We were carrying a single bag with snacks, emergency kit and a 60m rope (bit long, but at least it was 9mm). Soon we were at Walrus pitch. The little traverse rope had been removed, but that posed no problem, and we got delightfully moistened on the way down the pitch. Penknife pitch soon followed, then Limerick Junction and the bold step over to the Bridge of Sighs. A little later we were at Nagasaki, about an hour after leaving the surface.
My watch (which I found abandoned in a car park years ago) has always had a little quirk: it randomly loses power and resets itself. Most normal people would have replaced it by now, but I’m attached to it and a bit tight, so I’ve learnt to live with it. Anyway, this happened at some point after Nagasaki, meaning that we were estimating the actual time from then on. No problem though, as callout was hours away… right?
When we reached Easter Grotto I persuaded Jasmine to go for a look at the stals while I relieved myself of some excess hydration in the Thackray’s streamway. She was suitably impressed (by the pretties, that is), and soon we were on the way downstream. We had a break at the Stop Pot ladder for food, and then the muddy bits flew past until we stopped to hunt for the tell-tale blue polyprop rope which marks the climb down on the far side of Oxbow Corner.
We were in the Main Streamway now, and this was easily the most pleasant bit of the trip. The water was super low, and the passage is continuously interesting, with pools, washed out shale beds, stals and high level meanders to take in. Alas, 15 minutes later it was over, and we climbed up the Stake Pot fixed ropes to find the window to the EPC series.
The caving from here was a little more awkward in places, and we ticked off the various landmarks until the top of the 88 Foot Pitch. This was a more spectacular descent than I remembered from my only other trip there, or perhaps I now have a better light! The Wormway followed. Even though I knew that the forecast was settled, it’s a spooky bit of passage which obviously floods frequently. I was glad to see the orange rope which I had rigged the day before on Echo Aven.
At this point we were starting to feel like we’d covered a fair bit of cave. Most of this was new to Jasmine, though she’d done Cow to Countybefore and a trip in Link (Sheepgate!). Understandably we were tiring a bit, but I was looking forward to the Soreen and juice that I’d stashed for us at the Link entrance pitch. After some awkward derigging and crawling we were there. We had a break, dumped the bag and proceeded tackle free to the Link Crawl.
It had been years since I’d been here, and once or twice I began to doubt my memory, but pushing on through the Wet Wallows (now a big puddle that gets your ear wet) and the Muddy Wallows (either not muddy today, or it was that bit with a flat out tube crawl full of gravel?) eventually brought us to Dusty Junction.
Last chance to escape before Pippikin, but I don’t think either of us seriously considered it – we were too invested now. We made our way to the Hall of Ten and the start of the pitches that would take us to the end of the trip.
Now, Pip is the sting in the tail. The pitches themselves are pleasant enough, but linked by unrelentingly awkward passage. Not far distance-wise, but a physical challenge against gravity when you’re already at a low ebb. I’d done Pippikin downhill 3 times before, and actually found going up it quite enjoyable, if hard. Jasmine enjoyed it less, but her endurance and strength of character saw her through. The reason that it’s so difficult is that in four separate squeezes you have to rely on the same move: a horizontal thrutch with your legs jammed high and your weight on one hand. It’s a specific technique, and Jasmine was trying it out for the first time in the notorious Stemple Squeeze, against gravity, after nine hours of caving!
Eventually the four squeezes yielded their grip on us and we crossed Cellar Pot to see the rope from the surface pitch awaiting us (phew! I’d been hoping that was there) It had just got dark outside, so we estimated the time to be about 9pm. Once on the surface, we legged it through the bracken, struggling to find a way down the cliff above the gill. We dropped down next to the Mistral Entrance, quickly derigged Link and marched over Casterton Fell to the farm, arriving 5 minutes before the callout was due! I said a hurried goodbye to Jasmine and drove up the hill to get signal. Callout just averted!
This truly was a mega day out, and none the less for being a long time in the making. Thankyou to Jasmine for your company and support in the long dark of Easegill, and all of the awesome KCC members who’ve shown me around over the years. And there’s still Bye George and Peterson Pot to do in the future 🙂