chunky
Well-known member
As I had been intending to be in Yorkshire for the launch of the new Northern Caves Guide I figured it would be a shame not get underground at the same time. After a quick email out to the Dudley members I managed to recruit Kay and Loz to join me.
We were still undecided on a trip when we reached Inglesport for breakfast and so, after grabbing a couple of copies of the new guide book we settled upstairs for breakfast, a cuppa and a good read. I'd picked up some shiny new 9mm a couple of weeks before and still hadn't used it so we settled on a trip none of us had done before, Aquamole Pot.
Fortunately I had visited Jingling during Eurospeleo and although I hadn't spotted Aquamole at the time, it did mean we headed straight to it. We ignored the in situ rope and rigged our way through the numerous rebelays, through the crawling sections (Must remember to get some more knee pads!) through to the final pitch. Although there wasn't a huge amount of water we figured we may as well rig all the deviations for a bit of practice and headed down. A few people had said that the final pitch was quite spectacular but I have to say I still wasn't quite prepared for just how stunning the aven is. At the sump pool I waded through chest deep water and glanced back just as Kay was reaching the bottom. Her light lit the cascade of water coming in and I knew we were going to have to waste fifteen minutes capturing it.
Soaked to neck it was me this time and not the model that was getting chilled and so I asked if anyone minded if I went up to take a pitch shot. I sorted Kay out with how I wanted to light the shot from below and Loz agreed to be the model. 20 minutes later our legs began to go numb on the rope so we called it a day and headed out to the Martons for the evening session of the launch and a bite to eat.
It was great to see so many cavers in attendance at the Martons, unfortunately they were fully booked for food though and so after several pints and a packet of crisps I slurred and staggered my way to bed.
Pegusus had mentioned the night before that she may join us on Sundays trip. We all met up for the ritual breakfast and plotted where to go. I hadn't intended to take my camera but Pegusus insisted and so a trip in to County to The Palace was decided upon.
The entrance series was uneventful, Pegusus made Poetic Justice look easy and a line was rigged for lesser mortals. After Eureka Junction a bit of faffing ensued through the boulders and stream before we were back on course making our way through the beautiful Gypsum Caverns to The Palace. Brendan and I had been here before and he had taken far superior shots to mine so with more flash guns and people I was determined to do better this time. I showed loz the crawl through to Easter Grotto for her to go and have a look (I have been to both sides of the flat out crawl, but unfortunately I'm a bit chunky for the few feet of tight passage) and so headed back to the others to have a play with the camera.
Loz rejoined us and we were soon back at poetic Justice. Jane had seen a reflection in the rock that she thought would make a cool shot, but I wasn't able to recreate it and so turned my attention to a funky shot I wanted to try and take.
With the camera finally packed away all that was left was to head out. Pegasus and Loz skipped back up the rifts whilst I huffed and puffed through them, but we were all soon out and enjoying a cuppa before saying our goodbyes and heading off to the usual accidents and closed sections of motorway
Aquamole Pot, Final Pitch
Aquamole Pot, Final Pitch
Aquamole Pot Sump
The Palace
Gypsum Caverns
Poetic Justice
We were still undecided on a trip when we reached Inglesport for breakfast and so, after grabbing a couple of copies of the new guide book we settled upstairs for breakfast, a cuppa and a good read. I'd picked up some shiny new 9mm a couple of weeks before and still hadn't used it so we settled on a trip none of us had done before, Aquamole Pot.
Fortunately I had visited Jingling during Eurospeleo and although I hadn't spotted Aquamole at the time, it did mean we headed straight to it. We ignored the in situ rope and rigged our way through the numerous rebelays, through the crawling sections (Must remember to get some more knee pads!) through to the final pitch. Although there wasn't a huge amount of water we figured we may as well rig all the deviations for a bit of practice and headed down. A few people had said that the final pitch was quite spectacular but I have to say I still wasn't quite prepared for just how stunning the aven is. At the sump pool I waded through chest deep water and glanced back just as Kay was reaching the bottom. Her light lit the cascade of water coming in and I knew we were going to have to waste fifteen minutes capturing it.
Soaked to neck it was me this time and not the model that was getting chilled and so I asked if anyone minded if I went up to take a pitch shot. I sorted Kay out with how I wanted to light the shot from below and Loz agreed to be the model. 20 minutes later our legs began to go numb on the rope so we called it a day and headed out to the Martons for the evening session of the launch and a bite to eat.
It was great to see so many cavers in attendance at the Martons, unfortunately they were fully booked for food though and so after several pints and a packet of crisps I slurred and staggered my way to bed.
Pegusus had mentioned the night before that she may join us on Sundays trip. We all met up for the ritual breakfast and plotted where to go. I hadn't intended to take my camera but Pegusus insisted and so a trip in to County to The Palace was decided upon.
The entrance series was uneventful, Pegusus made Poetic Justice look easy and a line was rigged for lesser mortals. After Eureka Junction a bit of faffing ensued through the boulders and stream before we were back on course making our way through the beautiful Gypsum Caverns to The Palace. Brendan and I had been here before and he had taken far superior shots to mine so with more flash guns and people I was determined to do better this time. I showed loz the crawl through to Easter Grotto for her to go and have a look (I have been to both sides of the flat out crawl, but unfortunately I'm a bit chunky for the few feet of tight passage) and so headed back to the others to have a play with the camera.
Loz rejoined us and we were soon back at poetic Justice. Jane had seen a reflection in the rock that she thought would make a cool shot, but I wasn't able to recreate it and so turned my attention to a funky shot I wanted to try and take.
With the camera finally packed away all that was left was to head out. Pegasus and Loz skipped back up the rifts whilst I huffed and puffed through them, but we were all soon out and enjoying a cuppa before saying our goodbyes and heading off to the usual accidents and closed sections of motorway
Aquamole Pot, Final Pitch
Aquamole Pot, Final Pitch
Aquamole Pot Sump
The Palace
Gypsum Caverns
Poetic Justice
