Where was I? - Mistral

SqueezyPete

Member
I like to have surveys if I'm trying to navigate anywhere, but in this instance I had none so I was essentially leading people on a blind dander round the cave. As such I seem to have missed all the fun bits I was told to see.

Anyway we mostly went in a straight line until the trip ended at what devolved into a tight, stony, quite moist crawl that subsequently branched into a higher up crawl or a crawl at the same level, but filled with mud and water.
After deciding against leading the freshers down there (for lack of knowing where it was going and it also being crap) I looked around the chamber that we were sitting in prior to the crawl and found another bit off to the side that revealed another chamber with what looked like some sort of old dig and some beautiful mud sculptures. At one end of this the walls met with small rift between the two wall sloping up to a vertical tube/chimney thing.

I have craptastically illustrated the general approach to this area in case it sparks someone's memories. I remember passing a science experiment and going to the left of it, with regards to walking in from the mistral entrance.

Showing what the science experiment looked like, and a general overview of the chamber that the dig and crawl were off:
K6ybkAw.jpg


View from the ledge in that chamber looking towards the crawl and also a sort of overview of the diggy chamber that was off it:
POI4NEs.jpg


Roughly what I found in the crawl where it split:
6ny2ted.jpg


 

JoW

Member
Me me, I know!

You were at the dig in white wall chamber, the crawl may join into pippikin but I've not explored up there. The main way to the hall of the ten/ cigalaire stream way etc is straight on at dusty junction whereas the passage you went down is slightly left (hard left goes to link)

Hopefully the survey has attached itself
 

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JoW

Member
There are sculptures there too. The hall of the mountain king has sculpture(s) of a person (or possibly more than one) if I remember rightly. The white wall chamber dig has a collection of smaller mud sculptures.
 

SqueezyPete

Member
JasonC said:
The interesting mud sculptures are in the Hall of the Mountain King, I think.

If you haven't come across it already, this site http://www.rrcpc.org.uk/easegill/index.htm is very useful - choose Mistral from the sidebar, and read in conjunction with the survey above.

We were going off that description but I found it difficult to follow. I've heard plenty about the Hall of the Mountain King and I'm a little sad we didn't make it, supposedly a particular sculpture there is quite majestic in its scope.

JoW said:
This version may be better quality...

Ah hah, it's still a little difficult to follow but that's a much better survey than any of the ones I've seen so far, I think you have it right. The crawly sections are lacking detail though, there was definitely a bit that looped around.
The real question is how I missed the main way, is there a large mound of something right at the branch opening? Because I remember seeing something like that and not investigating past it as it looked like more of a dead end than just continuing through the chamber we were in.
 
Yes....
It's an easy mistake in what you expect to be a simple caving.
(and on the way back the start of the Muddy Wallows can look inviting, rather than the left passage)
It's a bit odd following Mistral in NC as from Dusty Junction it is described in Link/Pippikin/Bye George.
 
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