SUCC Trip Report 1 Dan yr Ogof

Aoife

New member
On our Halloween trip to South Wales, 4 of us took on Dan yr Ogof with Laura Benn leading. Approaching entry to the cave I became entangled in the Halloween decorations. Ghouls and ghosts stood around every corner (some rumoured they were only dressed up!). Reading signs of the hauntings of Dan yr Ogof, we bravely carried on. One sign warned us that as a cave becomes colder more ghosts are present?. After jumping the barrier to enter the actual cave we were faced with our first problem, as it was Halloween the dry ice from the show cave?s Saturday night party had entered the cave system! This made visibility very poor increasing the challenge of the cave further. Luckily, the water levels were low enough for us to pass the lakes. Off we went swimming through the cave; climbing up the rapids was challenging due to high water levels but we safely managed to pass. The boulder chamber was extremely difficult to navigate due to the dry ice! After trying lots of different passages, we eventually found the one leading on.

We were excited and shocked when Laura informed us that there was safe drinking water in the cave, and as we were extremely dehydrated, we all enjoyed drinking the crisp filtered water straight from the rocks! I even think it was the best water I have ever drank! We then continued onto the longer crawl to start the through trip. Unfortunately, we didn?t not have time to complete the full through trip but managed to complete 80% of the cave. Cloud chamber lived up to its expectations being one of the most spectacular sites I have ever seen ? we spent a few minutes ogling at its beauty. We then quickly left the cave, as we all had to head home to Southampton. Exhausted and exhilarated, we all changed out of our oversuits and headed back to the SWCC.
By Beth Newport
 
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