Trip Reports

By Tom C In Day Trips

Notts II

James, Maz, Pete, Rhod, Tom

Planned as an SRT trip up and over the bottom sump of Notts II to visit Notts III, we made our way down to find the streamway pretty powerful, which was surprising given there’d been no rain for a couple of days. Shows how much fell last week.

After a couple struggled down the water spout climb into the bottom chamber, we decided to sack it off given the job of getting the rest of the crew safely back up it on the way out, and instead had a long wander upstream to see the classic delights of Curry Inlet. 

On the way out, James and Rhod were dispatched to the flood bypass route for some muddy squeezing while the rest of us met them at the other side, and made our way out to a nippy night.

By Tom C In Day Trips

Yordas

Maz, Scott, Tom

What a damp evening. The initial plans for Aquamole were scrapped and we’d planned to visit Heron instead. However, on the walk up the rain set in really heavy and didn’t look like it was stopping so we decided to turn back and head to Yordas for a play instead. We headed in the middle entrance, Maz had a try of his new foot ascender on the short pitches then we headed to the traverse to rig and have a general SRT practise

By Tom C In Expeditions

Otter Hole

Yolanda, Scott, John (our guide from Royal Forest of Dean Caving Club). Trip report by Yolanda.

Otter Hole is often described as ‘a collector’s piece’. A lot of KCC crew had already done it, and while they all said it was brilliant, nobody wanted to do this 9 hour caving trip again. On Friday, Scott and I went to the Forest of Dean to find out why.

We met John, our guide, at 8:30 on Saturday morning and made our way through the woods to the slightly ominous looking metal hatch that led to the cave. As usual, I had a look at the sky in case I never saw it again, before wriggling my way into the cave and into a series of rather small and very muddy tunnels. There then followed a long long hour of sliding through salty mud before we arrived at the tidal sump – quite full and rapidly rising. John had guesstimated that the sump would be about knee deep when we arrived, so it was a bit of a nasty shock to find that the water was already shoulder deep. The archway was almost impassable, and the eyelet above the arch was getting more and more tricky as the water rose. John explained to us that we either needed to climb above the water and go feet-first through the eyelet, or give up and go home. For me, giving up and going back to the youth hostel sounded fairly appealing, but a mixture of pride and also guilt at the prospect of ruining the trip for Scott propelled me to climb above the water, shove my feet through the eyelet, and wriggle my way through.

A terrifying traverse and another half hour of sliding through mud followed before we reached the ‘wash off point’ – some scrubbing brushes on a rock. We scraped the worst of the mud off ourselves and I treated myself to a cheese and mud sandwich before continuing on our journey. After a few boulder chokes we reached Otter Hole’s beautiful cave formations; huge stalagmites, stalactites, calcite blankets, and enormous calcite formations. In my years of slithering around in the dark, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful cave – chamber after chamber of wonder.

The journey back out of the cave was relatively smooth, apart from a bit of panic when I got stuck on my head about five minutes from the entrance. Luckily Scott and John managed to free me in the end and five days on, my neck is nearly back to normal. There was a layer of brown silt in the shower that evening and my hair bobbles were encrusted onto my plaits with dried mud, but it was well worth it to see one of the most beautiful caves in the world. Thanks John and Scott for an amazing trip!

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 Tom C In Day Trips

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!

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By Tom C In Day Trips

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… 

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By Tom C In Day Trips

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.

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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!