Fell Beck and Rat hole

[Chocolate fireguard]

We are intending to do Rat Hole tomorrow (weather permitting) and it would be good to know:
Will the dam still be in place diverting Fell Beck down it and if so is it easy to get the water to go down GG without complete dismantling (we do not want to make a lot of work for the people sorting out the next winch meet)?
Is the water level high/normal/low at the moment?

 

[dunc]

Don't know the current water levels although this thread suggests not too bad but be aware (possibly heavy) rain is forecast tomorrow.

 

[langcliffe]

Is there any reason why the dam should be in place? The CPC Winch Meet doesn't start until the 13th August.

 

[Pitlamp]

Just to avoid confusion, the CPC winch meet does not start until 20th August.

(I think Langcliffe is referring to the tackling weekend, during which the dam is built. The winch will not be operational officially until 20th.)

I wouldn't want to be in Rat Hole itself (or the Rat Hole Sink entrance) if the beck came up significantly.

 

[langcliffe]

I wouldn't want to be in Rat Hole itself (or the Rat Hole Sink entrance) if the beck came up significantly.

The shaft would be interesting!

 

[Chocolate fireguard]

Thanks for your reply Dunc. It was useful and the warning was well meant. Turned out to be spot on too.
Thank you too langcliffe. But answering a question with a question must always leave some doubt.
We got to GG about midday Saturday after it had been raining quite heavily for about a half hour.
The beck was high and came up significantly as we were inspecting Rat Hole Sink - taking a lot of water perhaps due to the remnants of the dam - and Rat Hole itself, which was starting to take some.
A peek down Dihedral confirmed that it was taking an awful lot of water from under the boulder so we did Bar Pot. By the time we had done the New Henslers/Master Cave/Mud Henslers round and got to the Main Chamber there seemed to be at least 4 waterfalls coming in as well as the Main Shaft water. Difficult to check due to poor visibility. Despite this the water seemed to be flowing away as fast as it arrived and I found it utterly impossible to imagine what conditions must be like to turn the Main Chamber into a lake, as I believe sometimes happens.

 

[graham]

... there seemed to be at least 4 waterfalls coming in as well as the Main Shaft water. Difficult to check due to poor visibility. Despite this the water seemed to be flowing away as fast as it arrived and I found it utterly impossible to imagine what conditions must be like to turn the Main Chamber into a lake, as I believe sometimes happens.

I have been there with at least 7 waterfalls coming in and the puddle at the bottom of the shaft didn't seem to be very deep at all - didn't get too close through fear of falling rocks. I dread to think how wet it would have to be on the surface to form a lake.

Be interesting to find out how deep someone like Pitlamp has seen it.

 

[langcliffe]

The number of waterfalls is confusing, since the Rathole water bounces out in high water conditions and gets deflected in different directions by boulders jammed in the rift about 40 metres up. These boulders move, which is why waterfalls have appeared in different places over the years.

However, I know of the following inlets into the GG Rift:

1. The main beck water down Main Shaft
2. The Jib Tunnel water (mainly from Spout Tunnel)
3. The Hamster Aven inlet (this is considerable in high water)
4. The Mousehole Inlet (never been seen in high water, so quantity unknown!).
5. The Rathole water

I've seen the Main Chamber with about 5 metres of water in it.

 

[graham]

Thanks for that, Langcliffe. The trip I described was some 30 odd years ago, so I cannot remember how much rain there had been.

 

[Fulk]

Chocolate fireguard:

I found it utterly impossible to imagine what conditions must be like to turn the Main Chamber into a lake, as I believe sometimes happens.

Many years ago  there was a colossal thunderstorm over Ingleborough that affected the west and south sides only; unfortunately, some poor soul died in Sunset Hole (that nice, safe, easy novice cave!) as a result.

Anyway, a day or two later I went down Bar Pot to take some snapshots in the Main Chamber ? and was gob-smacked to find that the passage beyond the T-Junction (South Passage) was sumped off. The only explanation that we could come up with is that Main Chamber had filled up to some 25?30 ft and overflowed down South Passage.

It took ages for the water to go away (evaporate) completely, and to the best of my knowlegde it hasn't happened since.

 

[Fulk]

Many years ago  there was a colossal thunderstorm over Ingleborough that affected the west and south sides only; unfortunately, some poor soul died in Sunset Hole (that nice, safe, easy novice cave!) as a result.

It happened in 1982.

 

[langcliffe]

Did you get any snaps (sorry, photographs) , John?

 

[Fulk]

Did you get any snaps (sorry, photographs) , John?

No, which was a bit stupid having gone down there for photography! I waded into the water just north (?) of T-junction and retreated when the water got chest deep, with no air-space visible and no draught (very unusual for that part of the system, of course).

 

[Speleotron]

Its pretty impressive that those boulders move. I wonder if the reliant robin sized boulder you can see from the Amphithearter moves aswell? Hopefully not