Brains said:
Chocolate fireguard said:
Jenny P said:
The section from the start of Pillar Crawl to the Backwash Sump originally had no water flowing down it - the blasting of the passage changed all that - so now the waterfall down from Wet Inlets is only a fraction of its former volume because it used to take the whole flow of the stream which now flows straight down the blasted passage.
I have read that several times and, apart from the first 19 words, I don't understand it.
It seems to say that the entrance water now flows down the route cavers take after stepping up to the left where Pillar Crawl used to be. What am I misunderstanding?
From the rubble floored stream it is a good yard or more up into the remains of Pillar Crawl, so it only carries major flow in severe flood now. There is a very minor dribbly inlet that enters and runs down the blasted passage. Perhaps not long after reopening the rubble was higher?
I think the problem was that the rubble was all over the place initially and many floor and water levels were changed in the entrance series. At one time you walked on a solid rock floor in places where you now walk on rocks, which are the remains of the blasting rubble. Before the blasting, the entrance to Pillar Crawl was right up near the roof of the main stream passage, above head height, and you had to bridge up the walls to insert yourself headfirst into it.
If you were first one in the cave in the morning, it was amazing what you found under the water in the pools of Pillar Crawl because they were clear water, as opposed to the muddy gloop stirred up by passing cavers. One of the pools near the start was nearly 4 ft. long and stretched from side to side of the passage so, although it was not very deep, unless you could bridge it you got a thorough soaking on the way in. Cavers used to drop things like karabiners, strops, etc., which sank in the pool and they couldn't find them in the muddy water - but the mud settled out overnight so the pools were clear first thing in the morning and you could see to fish the things out.