Author: Ray McGarry

By Ray McGarry In Day Trips

Notts Pot (Twilight Zone)

Claire, James, Dave, Ray

The best… and worst… of winter caving. To be honest, I didn’t give us much chance of getting up Leck Fell Lane, given the prevalent snow and ice. So much so that I’d packed the ropes in such a way that we could easily decamp to Jingling. So the real question in my mind was whether we would even be able to get up into Kingsdale. When we got to the bottom of LFL, there was no sign of James, who was travelling independently of the rest of us. This meant that either he hadn’t arrived yet, or he had come in is pickup and breezed up onto the fell, leaving us with a bit of a problem when we came to the inevitable impassable section. But, surprisingly, no such impasse occurred. The road was relatively clear with just a few icy sections to navigate. We decided not to think about coming back down.

So there we all were in -7 C, regretting the decision to cave at all, but reluctantly getting changed anyway. The walk up to Notts Pot started unpleasantly cold, but we largely warmed up on the stomp up the fell… apart from my hands, which didn’t thaw out until well underground. It would have taken quite a while to find the entrance, had it not been for the GPS we had brought along, GPS in hand, James thankfully led us straight there. A quick rigging of the entrance pitch soon saw us all underground and rapidly warming up. Ray forged on ahead to rig the short climb and then the pitch down into Three Ways Chamber, where we could all regroup. Well, Ray and Claire regrouped… and waited… and waited. No sign of the other 2, so Claire eventually reascended the pitch to search for the others, while Ray set off to start rigging Twilight Zone.

Claire and the others eventually arrived as Ray was close to finishing rigging the initial traverse over Left Hand Route. Apparently Dave & James had somehow managed to get lost in the entrance passage. I didn’t even know that was possible. But, given James’s affinity for pushing into scrotty holes, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.

The rest of the descent went reasonably smoothly. There was the usual time wasted trying to find the deviation on the first drop, marked on the CNCC topo. As the CNCC’s own description states, this is either non-existent or impossible to find. Certainly I’ve never found it. This leads to the 2nd bit of time wasted trying to swing directly over to the y-hang above the next drop, before the usual admitting defeat and instead using the traverse on LH Route to reach the same y-hang. This traverse is actually one of the highlights of the trip, so it would be a shame to miss it out. The 3rd obligatory bit of time wasting is in deciding which window to swing into on the next drop. I don’t do this trip often enough to remember, so invariably start swinging about much too high. On locating the correct window the rest of the route down to the Lower Streamway was plain sailing.

Claire, then Dave, then James were soon down in the Lower Streamway too. No-one seemed to have any issues with the descent, despite it being quite a technical route. Dave, in particular, did very well, having only been caving for a few months. Not bad, given that he largely taught himself SRT from YouTube videos!

Being an evening trip, we had no intention of going lower than the Lower Streamway, so there was nothing else for it but to set off out. Claire volunteered to do the derigging, so Ray set off first, planning to wait at the difficult traverse to watch Dave & James and offer helpful advice. In the event, the helpful advice went something along the lines of: ” Now, the thing to do here is… Oh, you’ve done it” or “You’ll need to face the other way here… Or you could just make it look really easy facing that way, as you’ve just done.” Ever felt redundant?

Surely I at least had something to offer in terms of helpful derigging advice for Claire? Absolutely not. It was a very slick operation indeed. Not even a hint of swearing at tackle sack or rope.

We all regrouped in Three Ways Chamber again, before the final push out into the arctic wasteland. The surface pitch was surprisingly hard to prussik, being absolutely encrusted in ice. But we all did manage to reach the surface. By the time we reached the cars we were all absolutely frozen stiff, requiring combined tactics to remove various items of kit/clothing. Dave & Ray decided to not even bother getting changed.

This was an absolutely outstanding trip with a great bunch of people. As James, Dave & Claire are all relatively new members of KCC, it seems clear that the future of the club looks very bright indeed.

Some photos courtesy of Dave & Ray:

And, finally, a caption competition:

By Ray McGarry In Day Trips

Bull Pot Kingsdale

Helen, Pete, Matt, Ray

Another case of a hastily rearranged trip in view of the weather. The original plan had been Red Moss, but that was certainly off the menu given that it hadn’t stopped raining for at least 40 days & 40 nights. Yordas had briefly been discussed as an alternative, but quickly dropped in favour of a look at the newly bolted Monolith Traverse & Pitch in Bull Pot.

We cut a sorry sight struggling up the hillside, with both Helen & Ray limping along on their respective walking sticks. No route straight up the fellside tonight, rather a long sweeping loop out to the right and back. That left us with only one problem on top of the fell – finding the cave. Luckily this didn’t take too long and we were soon swinging off the normal 1st pitch, around a rock buttress to find the 1st bolt of Monolith Traverse. The traverse is quite nice, generally with good ledges on either side of the shaft, leading into a tube with a nicely-placed y-hand at the end. A bit cramped for rigging/derigging, but nothing too bad.

Monolith Pitch lands nicely at the old high-level traverse to the 2nd pitch. 3 or 4 anchors then take you round a couple of bends to the top of the 2nd pitch. There was quite a lot of water flowing down this, so the deviation (thankfully already complete with tat) was very welcome. From there it’s just a couple of metres down to the ledge. The slot was really the only 3rd pitch option in the prevailing moistness. This was quickly descended by all, past the easiest rebelay in the Dales. At the bottom, Ray went on to have a look at the 4th pitch. His rather drenched appearance on returning seemed to be enough to put everyone else off even having a look. Needless to say, descending the pitch was not an option. We did all agree, however, that we should definitely return to bottom the cave in drier conditions. Matt even agreed to lead such a trip… perhaps after a bit of pressurising.

Pete offered to derig. No mean feat, given the water levels and the fact that the top pitch was brand spanking new to all of us. With Matt offering moral support, he did a great job. There’s no going back now for you Pete! It wasn’t too long before everyone was safely out and slip-sliding back down the hillside.

A great little wet weather trip. Congratulations to the team that set the new Monolith route… whoever they are.

By Ray McGarry In Day Trips

Lost Johns (Dome-Centipede exchange)

Tom, Scott, Pete, Matt, Claire, Dave, Ray

A great evening making new acquaintances and renewing some old ones. Matt was making a return to KCC after several years away. Claire, who is an experienced caver, was on her 3rd KCC trip. Dave was on his 2nd ever caving trip.

The 1st order of business was to split into 2 groups. Luckily Claire is a dab hand at organising 😉 Team Centipede consisted of Scott, Pete & Claire. Team Dome was Tom, Matt, Dave & Ray. Due to the wind chill, the various riggers set off sharpish (Scott for Centipede, Tom & Matt for Dome) while the rest of us got changed. Eventually getting underground was a very welcome break from the bitter surface conditions.

Everyone romped across the traverse in fine style and the teams parted ways at the top of Dome. Dave & Ray caught up with Tom & Matt on the 3rd pitch. The descent of Dome went very smoothly indeed, with Tom doing a fine job of rigging the whole thing. There wasn’t even any audible whimpering when it came to swinging into the window on Dome pitch.

Obviously Team Centipede were waiting at Dome Junction when the other team arrived. We had a sociable few minutes of chat before making our way out. Everyone exchanged. Matt derigged Centipede, while Claire derigged Dome. It all seemed to go smoothly and we were all back on the freezing cold surface in no time.

Thanks to all riggers and deriggers who made the trip go incredibly smoothly indeed. Special mention must go to Dave. He absolutely smashed it, given that this was his 1st real SRT trip and 2nd cave overall.

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By Ray McGarry In Day Trips

Long Churn

Yolanda, Scott, Yulia (3rd caving trip), Andy (1st caving trip)

Report from Yolanda:

Long Churn is a classic trip for a novice caver. On Sunday, Scott and myself took Andy (first ever trip) and Yulia (third ever trip) for a potter around Long Churn. We clambered around double shuffle pool and plank pool before wriggling through the cheese press. There was a queue at Dolly Tubs, so we carried on exploring the cave. After a lot of falling in while trying to ascend the waterfall above Doctor Bannister’s Handbasin, we went back above ground for a bit of a break to dry out before going back to Dolly Tubs for a descent and a look round. After a good couple of hours underground we made our way back to the surface, with a bit more falling into pools on the way out. The Yorkshire Dales looked magnificent, and I suddenly realised in a flash of understanding that Long Churn was the first cave I did when I went for a caving trip with my university back in 2014! Thanks Scott for leading us on a great trip.

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By Ray McGarry In Day Trips

Rumbling Hole

Darren, Tim K, Tim D, Steve, Ray

Rumbling is always a great trip and this was no exception. Every pitch has something of interest.

Darren (our fearless leader for this trip) arrived early and got a head start on the rigging. The Tims followed shortly after, with Steve & Ray bringing up the rear. As seems normal this year, the midges were out in force at the entrance, so it was good to finally leave the surface. A bit of a scramble through the undergrowth at the top and it’s soon down to the famous hanging rebelay. Great fun! And all in daylight above a rather large drop. It’s always worth spending some time on the entrance pitch as there are a few things to see, including the waterfall over to one side and the traverse to the Dead Bobbin Series to the other.

At the bottom of the main hang is a nice descending traverse to a final drop to the floor (still all in daylight). Then it’s underground along an awkward little passage to the remaining pitches. Some have awkward take-offs, others have tight sections, others have both. Tim D decided to turn back before the final couple of pitches as he and I had been there not long ago. The rest of us were soon at the bottom, anticipating the long journey out.

Actually, the outward journey didn’t take long. Once back at the cars, Darren treated us to a nice cool beer. Cheers Darren, who also took most of the photos.

By Ray McGarry In Day Trips

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!

By Ray McGarry In Day Trips

Dow Cave

Yolanda, Vikki, Ray, Steve (2nd caving trip), Yulia (1st caving trip)

A nice little novice trip with Yulia (from Ukraine) on her 1st ever underground outing and Steve on his 2nd.

After quite a drive (albeit through some of the best of the Dales scenery), we parked up at Park Rash, just at the bottom of a very steep hill. The flies were something to behold, although thankfully they weren’t of the biting kind. The number of cyclists was also impressive – none cycling up the hill! A very pleasant walk took us to the entrance in about 15 mins. It’s just up the valley to the right in the following photo:

Soon we were heading down into the depths of hell. Too dramatic? Fair enough.

The streamway is a reasonable size for most of it’s length. Thankfully water levels weren’t too high, which was a concern given the recent rainfall. The stream could be avoided in some places, but there is also quite a bit of walking in the water. Being a climber, Steve valiantly attempted to traverse:

Unfortunately he lost all his kudos just after the above photo was taken as he fell into the water for more of a soaking than he would have had by simply walking in the stream. There’s a lesson there!

Shortly after a climb up and over a slope (near the Treacle Mines, I think), an inlet headed off to the left. We followed this, leading us into Gloop de Loop, an “interesting” oxbow passage leading directly to the Old Final Chamber. Yolanda bravely led the way.

Gloop de Loop is mostly a crawl, mostly in water. Never as big as you would like, but never too constricted. Yulia and Steve coped admirably. The passage ends at a balcony overlooking the Old Final Chamber… but some 5m up. Luckily there are anchors for a rope to aid a safe descent, unluckily we didn’t have a rope. So we improvised, with Yolanda & Ray forming a human chain down which the others could be safely(?) passed.

At the end of the Old Final Chamber is Hobson’s Choice – a huge boulder choke which, depending on who you believe, is either lethally dangerous or perfectly stable. Choosing to give the latter opinion at least a hearing, we ventured a short way in, until the inevitable “You will die!!!” signs curbed our enthusiasm.

One of these signs warned that novices, in particular, should steer clear. This is presumably due to their more feeble frames compared to experienced cavers, whose resistance to being squashed by 100 tonne boulders is much greater. Whatever the reasoning, having 2 novices seemed too good an opportunity not to take advantage of, so we turned round and headed for home, this time following the main passage the whole way, apart from one detour…

Of course we couldn’t resist a look up Dowbergill Passage on the way out. The echo at the Dow end of this passage is incredible. A very eerie place indeed. We pushed on through the duck under the Buddhist’s Temple. The duck had plenty of airspace on this occasion.

We eventually turned back where we would have had to climb up out of the water and start traversing. Another day! By now we were thoroughly drenched and beat a hasty retreat to warm, dry clothes and a cafe in Kettlewell.

A note on water levels: These were fairly low in Dow and did not appear to rise at all during our trip. However, the whole of Littondale and Penyghent Gill was much wetter on our return trip. While the Skirfare had been gently flowing in the morning, it was a raging torrent in the afternoon. The Scanty Lardos entrance was dry in the morning, but under a significant stream in the afternoon. Makes you think!

By Ray McGarry In Day Trips

Sunset Hole

Sophie, Tom, Tim K, Rhod, Maz, Steve, Yolanda, Ryan (3rd KCC trip)

Report from Sophie:

A rather soggy trip down Sunset Hole on Wednesday night. A classic little Yorkshire stream way. An enthusiastic turn out with Tom, Tim, Rhod, Steve (wonderful to have you back buddy!), Maz, Sophie, Yolanda and first-timer, Ryan. A good, if wet, time was had by all and the caramel cake was an absolute winner.

By Ray McGarry In Day Trips

The Mistral

Tim D, Ray, Shaun (1st KCC trip)… and Tom(-ish)

Mud glorious mud… and a very interesting sculpture.

Was it really an accident, or a deliberate ploy to avoid the mud? Perhaps we’ll never know, but, either way, Tom managed to turn up without his wellies. He did at least get some exercise by walking over to the entrance with us. He even planned to climb down the initial climb, but the flies around the entrance got the better of him. He was last seen running away, waving his arms in a most violent way and swearing the air blue. He taught those flies a lesson or two!

The initial climb down is easy enough and protected by an in-situ handline. It leads to about 15 minutes of easy crawling and squeezing. Back in the day this was a nightmare section of passage, but is now much enlarged following a difficult rescue, so doesn’t pose any particular problem, even for larger cavers. At the end of the entrance crawls we popped out into the Hobbit and things got comfortably big. Through Dusty Junction and Hall of the Ten and we were soon at Hall of the Mountain King.

This is were it all got a bit messy. The mud is deep, wet and particularly slippy. Luckily we all managed to keep both wellies (just!), but I imagine there are a few lodged deep in the mud from previous unfortunate souls. Interestingly, the mud isn’t the most remarkable thing about this area. That accolade has to go to the life-size sculpture. Words can’t possibly do this justice, so I won’t try. If you’ve been, you know. Overall, I think I probably prefer the Hall of the Mountain King in Craig y Ffynnon.

Eventually we dropped down into Leck Fell Lane, where the mud was thankfully replaced by a running stream. A short distance along this, the water crashes down a number of (particularly wet) cascades from Cigalere. Tim and Ray climbed up some of the cascades, but Shaun didn’t fancy it – he’s a very wise man. In the author’s opinion, Ray was very brave indeed to get as far as he did up the cascades, given his intense dislike of water. But even he had to admit defeat at the mere mention of an 8 foot deep canal at the top. So back we went… now almost completely devoid of our muddy coating, if a little bit on the moist side. Lovely!

We continued to the end of Leck Fell Lane, past some nice formations. The passage ends at a choke of glacial fill, which is worth seeing in its own right. There was a climb up just before the end, but none of us fancied it.

The journey out was made much more interesting by now being wet. This certainly didn’t help on the climbs back up the various mud slopes. Tim’s new wellies seemed to make a difference. For every 1 step up, he was only sliding back down the equivalent of 0.9 steps. For poor Shaun and Ray, on the other hand, the equation was tipped the other way. Hmmm. Luckily, a different way was eventually found and we all made it back up. Phew!

By the time we got back to the entrance crawls we were once again covered in a glutinous coating of particularly slippy mud. On the positive side, this made the crawling slightly easier. It did, however, mean that washing our kit wasn’t going to be easy or pleasant. As I write this, 2 days after the event, my oversuit is once again pristine… but my marital relationship may be forever damaged.

No photos this time, I’m afraid. Mistral is no place for a camera!