Peak cavern- Morton's chamber in the Ramp

alastairgott

Well-known member
after years of neglect, the top of the ramp in peak cavern is being revisited. The ramp is the most southerly point that dry cavers can get to in peak cavern.
Right above ink sump is a phreatic tube that heads in an easterly direction. This phreatic is known as the Ramp.


Whilst a significant amount of effort was put in by JNC (aka pitlamp on here) in the autumn of 1999, this was mostly concentrated on the left hand passage however i will concentrate on the orpheus' old dig from the late 80's in Morton's chamber.


Ideally i will bring the spoil down out of morton's into big white garden bags on the ramp. Still got to get some drag buckets and take them in. Then i'll have to return with the drill to do some more plugs and feathers on some of the rocks to make access to morton's chamber easier.


As to the potential of this dig, we'll just have to see ;)




 

Rob

Well-known member
In my mind this is probably the dig that is most likely to rewrite our understanding of the cave formation of the area....

A great project with awesome potential Alastair, best of luck with it.  (y)
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Agreed - a lot of potential on Dirtlow Rake. (See "Peak Cavern; Destination Dirtlow?" in TSG Journal 18 [2010] pages 54-61.) But Morton's is perhaps a tricky job? You may end up having to shore upwards - take care with that.

Best of luck; there might be another Titan lurking above that choke. If I'm about I'll lend a hand if you need any back up.

It's also probably worth re-bolting the Ramp up from Ink Sump before starting. The 1999 bolts were probably 8 mm Hilti HKDs - not designed for great longevity. (You mention using a drill, so maybe best to sort the rigging on the Ramp better, from the outset, whilst the drill's there?)

There is third possible option here. I pursued a low passage around to the left of the main choke (to what I believed to be a conclusion). Morton's Dig is the upward one directly at the top of the Ramp. But part way along the left hand option there is a spill in / boulder cavity on the right. This is likely to be part of the main choke. It's a good place to play Sir Lancelot with an aluminium scaffold pole, dislodging boulders from higher up. The problem is the working area isn't very big currently. If you made a comfortably large area to work in you could then start dropping boulders from above in relative safety. Once you got going then progress might be quite fast. (Just a thought . . . )

Hope that helps.

 

alastairgott

Well-known member
I might leave the bolts for now, they seem alright, i may give them a proper look next time, but i know the bolts have taken at least 10 people on them in the last 6 months and none have failed yet. (y)


I would prefer to play brave sir robin ! No longer available rather than lancelot.


The mud in mortons seems fine, but i'll be careful :)
I think the key is to make everything much bigger than it needs to be (maybe).


And get rid of the unnessesary slope of mud in mortons.
 

pwhole

Well-known member
He's had some good training poking at loose boulder chokes recently, I'm sure he'll be fine shovelling mud too. Obviously I'm happy to lend a hand as and when circumstances permit.
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
trip 2, good progress for solo, could be improved by a few able assistants... The homemade drag trays are now in. One of the spoil bags is now up, though i'm not sure if it's in the right place yet.

Used plugs and feathers on a lump of something, looked a bit like black crystals with white calcite near it, so pretty interesting. Now there is a good (unobstructed) route for drag trays down out of the chamber.

On the face itself i worked away for not very far, but it was easy digging through mostly sandy soil with some clay about. I was hampered mostly by the soil rolling down the slope into the "dogs door" entrance/exit to mortons chamber. So i could have gone on for a bit longer at the face had i not feared being entombed...

Digging through the soil/sand feels good, i don't know, just feels sort of right.

Pitlamp, i looked at your bolts, they look fine to me, near the top the rope is also round a flake of rock, so i'm pretty happy they will take a few more trips ;)

though i do want to sort out the bottom, as its always interesting climbing up and down next to ink sump. Perhaps take a ladder in for that section to make it safer.
 

owd git

Active member
If you warn 'able assistants' of next trip date /time. I too may find time. (y)
what ladder is needed?
Ric'( O. G.)
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
Only a short ladder, perhaps 4-5 metres just to make the first climb up on the ramp feel less exposed. At the moment metal or wood i think should do. What are you thinking OG?

I may modify the plan for the dig, may involve scaffold...
 

ah147

New member
You know you've got your local friendly scaffold man to supply you with scaffold anytime you want Alastair.

We don't use the lengths most people want for caving. Fittings are normally a bit harder as we use them or they're unserviceable, but sure I can get you a bucket full now and then.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Top