Coxie
New member
My first club caving weekend at the Wessex hut on Mendip started pretty well. As I needed to be back in West Cornwall by Saturday evening Keith, John and I headed up on the Friday afternoon so we could get a quick trip in before the merriment began later that evening. We arrived a the hut around 4pm and after a quick brew got ourselves sorted for a trip into Eastwater. Both John and I realised that we?d left our towels and wash kits in the bunkroom and decided to brave the journey in our suits despite the sign on the door stressing ?no dirty caving gear in the hut!?. It was still fairly quiet at this stage and we thought we?d slip in under the radar... our oversuits were sparkly clean having just come out the washing machine earlier that day so probably didn't fall into the "dirty" catagory.
Suitably chastised by another caver we returned with our tails between our legs having promised not to do it again with our shower gear. Once finally sorted we left for Eastwater. I returned moments later to retrieve the car keys from the bunkroom as the ropebag was still in the car.
:chair:
I always feel a little nervous before going into a new system, even more so after Keith?s perfectly timed disclaimer: ?it?s been a while since I?ve been in Eastwater so no guarantees chaps?? We made it through the boulder ruckle into the main stream way with no major problems. There being a fair amount of water we tied a rope off at the entrance so we had a guide for our exit. Keith made short work of the tight rising crawl between the bedding as he led off up to Kentish?s Cairn and the top of Bakers chimney. John and I eagerly followed and although John flew up the thing I opted to take a bit more time as I forced my chest through the tightest section which I found particularly unpleasant. We admired Bakers pit for its climb-ability but on Keith?s knowledge of it belling out a bit at the bottom we opted for the boulder choke and squeeze into the Canyon below instead. We followed this noting the last section of Bakers did indeed bell out and ventured further into the canyon towards the Crossroads.
From here a quick nose at Dolphin pot before following the bedding from the crossroads, negotiating the S bend, taking in the impressively deep 1st vertical and into the first rift chamber. A little look at the second rift chamber which was notably higher and we had a look for a climb up and into a short extension which we failed to locate. Back tracking a little we found ourselves at the lower traverse, something I certainly missed on the way past, a fairly tight and in places restrictive, crawl across the steep bedding. All of a sudden Keith Disappeared into the deep and completely hidden channel of Primrose Path treating us to the comical view of nothing but the top of his helmet descending down the plane. I found Primrose Path to be quite sporting and very awkward in places, in fact had Keith not been forging ahead I may have bottled it and never reached thread chamber at all. Nevertheless we got there saw the ominous looking entrance to the pot choking down to the squeeze beneath us. After a brief interlude we climbed back up passing the lower traverse and toward Hallelujah hole. A deep breath and through into the climb up to the upper traverse which, once located, we crossed ensuring that neither us nor any of our kit got swallowed up by the yawning crevasse below.
After a very wet and cold exit through the boulders we trudged back to the hut, suitably pleased with ourselves, in time for brew, banter and a banquet of beer and blue steak.
An excellent trip and well worth it, and so close to the hut too!
Suitably chastised by another caver we returned with our tails between our legs having promised not to do it again with our shower gear. Once finally sorted we left for Eastwater. I returned moments later to retrieve the car keys from the bunkroom as the ropebag was still in the car.:chair:
I always feel a little nervous before going into a new system, even more so after Keith?s perfectly timed disclaimer: ?it?s been a while since I?ve been in Eastwater so no guarantees chaps?? We made it through the boulder ruckle into the main stream way with no major problems. There being a fair amount of water we tied a rope off at the entrance so we had a guide for our exit. Keith made short work of the tight rising crawl between the bedding as he led off up to Kentish?s Cairn and the top of Bakers chimney. John and I eagerly followed and although John flew up the thing I opted to take a bit more time as I forced my chest through the tightest section which I found particularly unpleasant. We admired Bakers pit for its climb-ability but on Keith?s knowledge of it belling out a bit at the bottom we opted for the boulder choke and squeeze into the Canyon below instead. We followed this noting the last section of Bakers did indeed bell out and ventured further into the canyon towards the Crossroads.
From here a quick nose at Dolphin pot before following the bedding from the crossroads, negotiating the S bend, taking in the impressively deep 1st vertical and into the first rift chamber. A little look at the second rift chamber which was notably higher and we had a look for a climb up and into a short extension which we failed to locate. Back tracking a little we found ourselves at the lower traverse, something I certainly missed on the way past, a fairly tight and in places restrictive, crawl across the steep bedding. All of a sudden Keith Disappeared into the deep and completely hidden channel of Primrose Path treating us to the comical view of nothing but the top of his helmet descending down the plane. I found Primrose Path to be quite sporting and very awkward in places, in fact had Keith not been forging ahead I may have bottled it and never reached thread chamber at all. Nevertheless we got there saw the ominous looking entrance to the pot choking down to the squeeze beneath us. After a brief interlude we climbed back up passing the lower traverse and toward Hallelujah hole. A deep breath and through into the climb up to the upper traverse which, once located, we crossed ensuring that neither us nor any of our kit got swallowed up by the yawning crevasse below.
After a very wet and cold exit through the boulders we trudged back to the hut, suitably pleased with ourselves, in time for brew, banter and a banquet of beer and blue steak.
An excellent trip and well worth it, and so close to the hut too!
