Porth Yr Ogof - trip write up

[cucc Paul]

Left cardiff in one car but it sounded very ill with five of us crammed in and lots of kit so came back and picked up a second splitting the load, got a litttle way down A470 before complete abandonement of the first car and back to the cramped conditions.

Went down to the entrance and left half the kit at the car so had to go back... duh.... and also noticed that or dinghy had more holes than solid walls so gave up and stuffed its limp form in the boot.

Went down through the main entrance and along and out through the resurgence, the water levels looked low and a few of us checked out the way before the others followed, there were a few supprised faces as people got their heads wet the watter was freezing and we were all glad to have wet suits on. Lost my wellies and had to swim through the pool at the end with them in my hands  : We walked round on the surface before jumping down a different hole and going to the letter box and the washing machine, we also had some fun on a few slidy bits and had a general look about.

Not along trip but all agreed it would be ideal on a sweltering hot summers day, rather than in the middle of the night.
Wet suits are a must for this one you literally have to swim a few chunks and the added bouyancy is great in the washing machine and resurgence. Dive boots would probably be a bonus as wellies arent fun to swim in.

Looking forward to a trip in day light as theres potential for some great photos. Hopefully return soon.

 

[Huge]

Yep, sweltering hot summers days are the best bet for wet caves like Porth and Llygad Llwchwr. Have a splash around underground and then warm up in the sun after getting changed. I remember one trip to Llygad where we sunbathed afterwards and then went to Carreg Cennen Castle for ice cream. Just great!

The Washing Machine is the oxbow that takes a lot of water from the streamway upstream of White Horse pool right? It's fun in high water but don't go in the other oxbow, just upstream of the Washing Machine, in those conditions as the very low duck in it sumps. I had a very nasty moment there once. The water levels were high and I was in the cave with my mate Paul. We went into the oxbow, me in front. Normally you can crawl flat out through the duck on the left hand side, where it's highest and you get a reasonable air space. This time there was only a tiny crack of an air space on the left, completely unusable. The current was really strong and was pulling me into the sumped bit on the right, where it's too low to get through anyway. I wedged myself in the passage, one hand on the left wall, one hand on the roof and one leg on the right hand wall below water level. The other foot was on the floor in the stream where I couldn't get a grip as the cobbles were being washed away from under me. I couldn't reverse out against the current, every time I tried to move one limb, something else seemed in danger of sliding off. I had to get Paul to help pull me out. If he'd slipped we would probably have both been washed onto the low bit, got caught and drowned.

It must have left an impression on me as I can remember it in so much detail now. (It was many years ago and I'd only been caving about a year.)

Just thought I'd share that moment with you.

 

[james]

The resurgence pool has claim about 13 lives over the last 20 years.  It is about 20 feet deep with shelving sides that offer no footholds. Some sort of buoyancy device is recommended and perhaps getting someone else to take your  boots and Nife lamp out the easy way.  Some years ago I was very keen to remove this hazard with some of Dr Nobel's linctus, but was warned off.  :chair:

 

[rhychydwr1]

Some nice photos:

http://www.showcaves.com/english/gb/caves/PorthYrOgof.html

of Porth yr Ogof

 

[cap n chris]

The resurgence pool has claim about 13 lives over the last 20 years.

Details here:

http://www.ukcaves.co.uk/window.php?cave=50

 

[graham]

The resurgence pool has claim about 13 lives over the last 20 years.  It is about 20 feet deep with shelving sides that offer no footholds. Some sort of buoyancy device is recommended and perhaps getting someone else to take your  boots and Nife lamp out the easy way.  Some years ago I was very keen to remove this hazard with some of Dr Nobel's linctus, but was warned off.  :chair:

Quite right too.

 

[Huge]

The resurgence pool has claim about 13 lives over the last 20 years.  It is about 20 feet deep with shelving sides that offer no footholds. Some sort of buoyancy device is recommended and perhaps getting someone else to take your  boots and Nife lamp out the easy way.  Some years ago I was very keen to remove this hazard with some of Dr Nobel's linctus, but was warned off.   :chair:

Do you think you would have got permision from the national park, Forestry Commision etc., etc. to do this? I very much doubt it. And if you had, I would have used some Dr. Nobel's linctus on you! So there! 

As for bouyancy, I've always found a full wetsuit to be adequate, although a tackle sack with some empty, watertight containers (e.g. drinks bottles, BDHs, Darren Drums) would make the crossing more relaxed.

 

[cucc Paul]

We were aware of the dangers and were all wearing full wet suits the weaker swimmers wore boyancy aids... We had a tackle sack with an inflatted dry bag in it and an almost empty peli case but abandoned it on the "beach" area. Washing machine is great although there is a rather nasty sharp bit that gets you in the bum as you build up speed.

The resurgence should be left as is in my opinion, for those capable and fully equiped and being sensible its an enjoyable section of cave. How many caves can you pass through end to end without getting out the water and not needing scuba gear. Besides which the caves been arround a lot longer than people have been trying to get through it.

 

[Huge]

Washing machine is great although there is a rather nasty sharp bit that gets you in the bum as you build up speed.

I'd forgoten about that!

The resurgence should be left as is in my opinion, for those capable and fully equiped and being sensible its an enjoyable section of cave. How many caves can you pass through end to end without getting out the water and not needing scuba gear. Besides which the caves been arround a lot longer than people have been trying to get through it.

I totally agree!

 

[gus horsley]

I remember being on a rescue practice at PYO.  The idea was to haul someone up one of the small pitch entrances but the victim didn't appear at the bottom.  After two hours we were told he couldn't find his way to the "accident" site so we packed up and played with a tyrolean traverse over the river downstream from the Washing machine. 

 

[hell little caver]

twas a great trip enjoyed it very much! and i wana to go though the resugense for years!