tim.rose2
Well-known member
Our latest search for cave...
A few years ago I was taking some photos of the cliffs at the Grove to show where the various rift entrances are. One of which is the photo below which shows Flagpole Rift and the section of cliff locally known as 'The Face', which I'm sure with a little imagination you can see why. I noticed a possible opening in the 'left eye' (circled in yellow). Not the easiest of places to get to, but it looked like with a bit of creativity and discretion a route following the blue arrow should work. It went on the 'to do list'.
Today we finally decided to take a look...
30 min of gardening got us to the cliff edge in the right place. A couple of tent pegs were installed as anchors, rope dropped, SRT kit donned and over the edge I went. This got me to a good ledge with a holdless 1m traverse around to the entrance. I retreated for nuts / hexes so I could arrange something to hang off. Meanwhile, Mike was eyeing up a direct descent which he reckoned looked more sensible, so I left him to it. Mike reached the entrance and said it looked interesting but initially blocked with a mud bank. Retreat no.2 for a crowbar. I rigged a second rope so I could head back to the ledge and look at the traverse, whilst Mike got into the 'cave' and started digging the mud bank blocking the way ahead. Meanwhile Sas was up top guarding the bags, creating a picnic area and watching a couple of seals in the bay below. Lunchtime we swapped over, with it still being unclear how far the mud extended and a short time later Mike joined me to aid spoil removal.
So what have we found? Well, this is clearly a waterworn passage, unfortunately blocked to nearly ceiling with compacted mud. Once the mud has been shifted it's actually a descent size. We managed to get a view ahead at the end of todays session and unfortunately could see the fill continuing for at least another 3 m. Currently our 'cavelet' is about 4 m long. Probably best summed up as intriguing, but not overly inspiring. I'd guess this one will need a few sessions to see what's going on and determine if there is any cave hiding beyond the mud. On the plus side, there are other waterworn passages within this part of the island and they're in roughly the same layers.
Mike just above the entrance:
Mike exiting:
Mike's arse. The mud fill line is pretty obvious. The floor could be dug out, perhaps a couple of feet at this point, before the true rock floor would be found.
If / when we return I'll add some updates. Not going to be the top of the list, but it is reasonably quick to get to and once in, reasonably pleasant digging. Three bolts would make getting in / out significantly easier.
A few years ago I was taking some photos of the cliffs at the Grove to show where the various rift entrances are. One of which is the photo below which shows Flagpole Rift and the section of cliff locally known as 'The Face', which I'm sure with a little imagination you can see why. I noticed a possible opening in the 'left eye' (circled in yellow). Not the easiest of places to get to, but it looked like with a bit of creativity and discretion a route following the blue arrow should work. It went on the 'to do list'.
Today we finally decided to take a look...
30 min of gardening got us to the cliff edge in the right place. A couple of tent pegs were installed as anchors, rope dropped, SRT kit donned and over the edge I went. This got me to a good ledge with a holdless 1m traverse around to the entrance. I retreated for nuts / hexes so I could arrange something to hang off. Meanwhile, Mike was eyeing up a direct descent which he reckoned looked more sensible, so I left him to it. Mike reached the entrance and said it looked interesting but initially blocked with a mud bank. Retreat no.2 for a crowbar. I rigged a second rope so I could head back to the ledge and look at the traverse, whilst Mike got into the 'cave' and started digging the mud bank blocking the way ahead. Meanwhile Sas was up top guarding the bags, creating a picnic area and watching a couple of seals in the bay below. Lunchtime we swapped over, with it still being unclear how far the mud extended and a short time later Mike joined me to aid spoil removal.
So what have we found? Well, this is clearly a waterworn passage, unfortunately blocked to nearly ceiling with compacted mud. Once the mud has been shifted it's actually a descent size. We managed to get a view ahead at the end of todays session and unfortunately could see the fill continuing for at least another 3 m. Currently our 'cavelet' is about 4 m long. Probably best summed up as intriguing, but not overly inspiring. I'd guess this one will need a few sessions to see what's going on and determine if there is any cave hiding beyond the mud. On the plus side, there are other waterworn passages within this part of the island and they're in roughly the same layers.
Mike just above the entrance:
Mike exiting:
Mike's arse. The mud fill line is pretty obvious. The floor could be dug out, perhaps a couple of feet at this point, before the true rock floor would be found.
If / when we return I'll add some updates. Not going to be the top of the list, but it is reasonably quick to get to and once in, reasonably pleasant digging. Three bolts would make getting in / out significantly easier.
