georgenorth
Active member
09/11/11
Lost John's - Notts II through trip.
Ian, Liz and George.
I must admit that this write-up isn't really intended so much as a report, but more of a public health warning! Although the 3 of us have only been lightly involved in the project on the Lost John's side of the choke (in fact my only digging was done up a dead end in the wrong direction) we did have a good bit of knowledge on the route finding having last visited 2 weeks ago for some radio location work.
As this was an after work trip we we didn't hang around too much and speedy progress was made first down, and then up into Lyle Caverns. I was slightly fortunate to avoid injury here as I slipped on a greasy rift climb, fortunately only falling half way back down - the same thing also happened to Ian 2 weeks ago, so watch out for this bit!. Once reached the choke certainly starts as it means to go on, with a muddy climb up between loose boulders into the upper chamber. As with the following 100m great care needs to be taken to slink around the boulders rather than pushing heavily off them. The chamber is followed uphill before a slot leads down a series of twisting tubes that are a bit awkward with tackle. After a short flat out crawl that is again awkward with tackle the connection point is reached. I'd strongly recommend anybody to stay away from doing the trip until this bit is shored up as the roof really is in a very loose state - hopefully it doesn't collapse again before it gets shored up!
Following this excitement was the incredible Bruno Kranskies dig - this really is a pretty astonishing bit of work and a proud testament to those that created it. This side of the dig is much more heavily shored up than the LJs side and so the route is more obvious, although as with any boulder choke care must be taken not to push of the wrong thing. Once in the Notts II streamway we had a much needed wash off and exited the cave after about 2.5 hours underground (of which at least 45mins must have been spent in the choke.) Obviously without the cave being rigged the trip would have taken longer.
In all whilst the connection is an amazing achievement, I can't see it becoming particularly popular as a sporting trip. The choke is both awkward, loose and very, very muddy. I don't think any of us will be rushing back, and I for one will be quite happy never to visit it again! I am glad to have done the trip though, although as stressed above I'd highly recommend staying away for the next couple of weeks. I'd also find somewhere else to go full stop if horrible, squalid chokes aren't your cup of tea.
for everybody involved.
Lost John's - Notts II through trip.
Ian, Liz and George.
I must admit that this write-up isn't really intended so much as a report, but more of a public health warning! Although the 3 of us have only been lightly involved in the project on the Lost John's side of the choke (in fact my only digging was done up a dead end in the wrong direction) we did have a good bit of knowledge on the route finding having last visited 2 weeks ago for some radio location work.
As this was an after work trip we we didn't hang around too much and speedy progress was made first down, and then up into Lyle Caverns. I was slightly fortunate to avoid injury here as I slipped on a greasy rift climb, fortunately only falling half way back down - the same thing also happened to Ian 2 weeks ago, so watch out for this bit!. Once reached the choke certainly starts as it means to go on, with a muddy climb up between loose boulders into the upper chamber. As with the following 100m great care needs to be taken to slink around the boulders rather than pushing heavily off them. The chamber is followed uphill before a slot leads down a series of twisting tubes that are a bit awkward with tackle. After a short flat out crawl that is again awkward with tackle the connection point is reached. I'd strongly recommend anybody to stay away from doing the trip until this bit is shored up as the roof really is in a very loose state - hopefully it doesn't collapse again before it gets shored up!
Following this excitement was the incredible Bruno Kranskies dig - this really is a pretty astonishing bit of work and a proud testament to those that created it. This side of the dig is much more heavily shored up than the LJs side and so the route is more obvious, although as with any boulder choke care must be taken not to push of the wrong thing. Once in the Notts II streamway we had a much needed wash off and exited the cave after about 2.5 hours underground (of which at least 45mins must have been spent in the choke.) Obviously without the cave being rigged the trip would have taken longer.
In all whilst the connection is an amazing achievement, I can't see it becoming particularly popular as a sporting trip. The choke is both awkward, loose and very, very muddy. I don't think any of us will be rushing back, and I for one will be quite happy never to visit it again! I am glad to have done the trip though, although as stressed above I'd highly recommend staying away for the next couple of weeks. I'd also find somewhere else to go full stop if horrible, squalid chokes aren't your cup of tea.
for everybody involved.