ILLUSION

[bog4053]

Can anyone tell me how the Illusion Pot entrance sump behaves and what to watch out for/consider in advance of a trip?  Last time we were down there - 6 July 2011 to be precise - it was dry conditions and there was little sign that the sump ever came up at all.  20 years or so ago I remember bailing for some time and getting nowhere.

 

[Dave Tyson]

We did a trip on 2nd September. The was a tiny airspace in the sump so we bailed for about 1/2 hour which gave plenty of airspace. There were only 2 buckets (2 gallon and ~1.5 gallon) on the entrance side of the sump, so when we exited we moved another 2 gallon bucket from the other side of the sump to make it quicker to bail for future visitors. Once bailed the sump doesn't seen to fill up very quickly unless people mess with the dam.  In February this year when it was pissing down and had been for a week, two of us had to bail for 1 hour

Dave

 

[Lurker]

We were there on Sunday and there was plenty of airspace - we could keep our heads dry and didn't feel any need to do any bailing. So (unless there were some other trips there) I'm guessing it might have stayed low and didn't fill up again after Dave's trip on 2nd, in which case thanks for your bailing efforts!

 

[bog4053]

Thanks chaps, that was useful to know.  On Saturday we didn't need to bail.  The water was about 12 inches deep which meant that  even at the final low bit you could get through without getting your head wet.  I'm not sure what the weather was like in the Dales in the preceding days except there was heavy rain on Wednesday.  I think Thursday and Friday were pretty dry.  Saturday was dry so we went through with confidence.