D
Dep
Guest
After a slightly later than planned start, John, Una and I drove to Priddy and got changed in the barn. There were a few cars there already so we guessed there were a few groups already in Swildon's Hole. The field was extremely muddy, we had had a lot of rain recently and water levels were well up on previous visits. My original plan had been to repeat the Short Round Trip which I had done with Paul over Christmas as the route was still fresh in my mind. But with the water levels clearly higher I was concerned at how much bailing would be required through Mud Sump and the ducks further on, so in the end we decided on discretion rather than valour. The entrance was very wet, we went in with the stream, some of the entrance cascades were pretty powerful and we had to be careful. John took the lead, I followed along behind Una.
There are quite a number of different routes through the entrance series, I'm starting to recognise them and noticed that we had taken a harder route in than we needed to and noted it for the way out. We made steady progress down the streamway, the flow was strong and it was quite foamy and very steamy in there; classic streamway stuff - love it! The flow through the hole in the 'Forty' was really strong, I went down first and almost got pushed off by the water, I had to jump the last few feet in an undignified fashion. Another group were just coming up the streamway, they gave us a moment to get Una and then John down.
At the 'Twenty' there was a ladder and line already there, with another four sets of gear stashed along the shelf. On down to the 'Double Pots'; Una had fun getting down the second of these as the water was jetting through at some pace; so I sat in the cleft to give her a few seconds respite. She still couldn't find the next step down and as I watched I suddenly realised that the water was starting to push over my shoulders and was going to wash me away in a moment; I had to let it go so grabbed her hand and held on until the water levels had readjusted themselves.
We avoided the rift going in and detoured over through Barne's Loop, a very pretty diversion as it is 100% calcite. Someone has recently been in here and broken off part of the curtains, the fresh break was clear to see. Once got to Tratman's Temple John went on ahead to recce his route whilst I helped Una up the side of the streamway. Somehow we missed the narrow eye of the exit passage and instead cast around for a few minutes trying to link back up with John - in the process finding all the exposed edges. My new wellies were super-grippy which was what I needed on these slippery edges.
Onwards through the low fossil passages with their gour floors towards the first Mud Sump. We weren't making sufficiently fast progress to attempt the short round trip and combined with concerns about the water levels we had instead decided to just visit the first duck to show John where it was, have a fiddle with the bailing set-up to see how it worked, and then return down to Sump 1 via Tratman's Temple and then out - a fairly full-on trip in itself.
I had forgotten about all the low squeezes going through, but with the polished gour floors they presented little difficulty and eventually we arrived at the first of the mud pools and then started to find the dams. There are several of these in a three-stage bailing process, taking the water back some distance and clear of an active dig down a rift in the floor. A very labour intensive process! As it happened the way on through the first duck was just clear enough for John to float through on his back and explore ahead. Una had a rest whilst I played with the bailing system, and in the process shifted some more water out of the duck. It's not the most ergonometrically efficient setup I have seen but it works well enough, all I needed was someone to throw wet sponges at me to feel like a contestant in "It's a Knockout!".
Once John returned we had a time check and quick conference about what we were going to do next; Sump 1 was our next target so we headed back through the gour crawls, easier this time as it was generally downhill, with a few nice slides! We were going quite slowly, so John and I had time to poke into the various side-passages where the water drains away, and where there are various dams and digs, both of us want to get to know this place better.
Once again I failed to enjoy the exposed step down from Tratman's above the streamway, but now I think I have it. Una was behind me and with her shorter legs I did not want her to think it was difficult! But we all managed to get down OK and headed on downstream. Here there was a lot more foam, and when we finally arrived at the sump it was like a bubble bath. We had a bit under two hours left to us, but decided there was no point in going through the sump as we would only turn around 10 minutes later and come back through again. So we took a break and dug out the Mars bars.
The route out from Sump 1 was very slow indeed, Una has been working some very long shift hours recently and she was getting tired. But we took a steady pace and John and I helped her up the waterfalls and spotted for her. Una didn't fancy the climb up to Barne's Loop so we made the mistake of exiting along the rift which is a bit of a grind compared to the upper route. Coming up through the various waterfalls, especially the 'Double pots' was fun, from previous trips I know where to find the handholds which was as well as the white water made it hard to see them.
When we reached the 'Twenty' it was to find a group from the BEC just coming down; when they were clear I found our ladder and line rigged so quickly shinned up and got the lifeline ready for Una. The waterfall was thunderingly loud, conversation was impossible, this is where knowing the climbing calls really pays off. It took a while but eventually we were all safely up.
I de-rigged and stowed our kit and then found the BEC ladder and rigged it, I had seen them all free-climb down so guessed they had no rope. We were about to leave when I spotted a second ladder tucked up on a shelf, this did have a rope, and just in case this other group came out before the BEC party did I thought I'd best rig this rope too, so John started on out with Una whilst I stayed behind to do this. It didn't take me too long to catch them up, and soon we were at the 'Forty'. John was first up, Una has short legs and found it difficult to stand up on the first foothold against the powerful downrush of the water. After a few abortive attempts with me trying to boost her up we decided to use the rope. John quickly rigged a line from the top and with something to lean on and to prevent her slipping back again Una was soon at the top. I screwed the rope into a bundle and headed upstream where there was room enough to stop and tidy the kit away, this was the last significant climb and we shouldn't need it again.
I lead out back up the streamway, this time I took the short-cut I had spotted before as it avoids climbing up under another waterfall and from there it's just a short way to the entrance. A lot of spray coming out and then I was out blinking in the daylight. Una was some way behind me climbing up through the choke, I sat down in the 'lake' outside and jammed my backside into the inlet hole to give her some respite as she climbed up through the water. I was so engrossed watching the water level rise in the lake that I didn't actually hear either of them come out, and they hadn't seen me down below the wall.
Congratulating ourselves on a job well-done, and after an equally muddy walk back across the fields to a shiveringly cold change in the barn and we finally returned to the Cabin within about 15 minutes of our scheduled time, our slow exit from Sump 1 had eaten well into our leeway time. But perfect timing; after a cup of coffee and a warm-up by the fire, dinner followed shortly afterwards...
There are quite a number of different routes through the entrance series, I'm starting to recognise them and noticed that we had taken a harder route in than we needed to and noted it for the way out. We made steady progress down the streamway, the flow was strong and it was quite foamy and very steamy in there; classic streamway stuff - love it! The flow through the hole in the 'Forty' was really strong, I went down first and almost got pushed off by the water, I had to jump the last few feet in an undignified fashion. Another group were just coming up the streamway, they gave us a moment to get Una and then John down.
At the 'Twenty' there was a ladder and line already there, with another four sets of gear stashed along the shelf. On down to the 'Double Pots'; Una had fun getting down the second of these as the water was jetting through at some pace; so I sat in the cleft to give her a few seconds respite. She still couldn't find the next step down and as I watched I suddenly realised that the water was starting to push over my shoulders and was going to wash me away in a moment; I had to let it go so grabbed her hand and held on until the water levels had readjusted themselves.
We avoided the rift going in and detoured over through Barne's Loop, a very pretty diversion as it is 100% calcite. Someone has recently been in here and broken off part of the curtains, the fresh break was clear to see. Once got to Tratman's Temple John went on ahead to recce his route whilst I helped Una up the side of the streamway. Somehow we missed the narrow eye of the exit passage and instead cast around for a few minutes trying to link back up with John - in the process finding all the exposed edges. My new wellies were super-grippy which was what I needed on these slippery edges.
Onwards through the low fossil passages with their gour floors towards the first Mud Sump. We weren't making sufficiently fast progress to attempt the short round trip and combined with concerns about the water levels we had instead decided to just visit the first duck to show John where it was, have a fiddle with the bailing set-up to see how it worked, and then return down to Sump 1 via Tratman's Temple and then out - a fairly full-on trip in itself.
I had forgotten about all the low squeezes going through, but with the polished gour floors they presented little difficulty and eventually we arrived at the first of the mud pools and then started to find the dams. There are several of these in a three-stage bailing process, taking the water back some distance and clear of an active dig down a rift in the floor. A very labour intensive process! As it happened the way on through the first duck was just clear enough for John to float through on his back and explore ahead. Una had a rest whilst I played with the bailing system, and in the process shifted some more water out of the duck. It's not the most ergonometrically efficient setup I have seen but it works well enough, all I needed was someone to throw wet sponges at me to feel like a contestant in "It's a Knockout!".
Once John returned we had a time check and quick conference about what we were going to do next; Sump 1 was our next target so we headed back through the gour crawls, easier this time as it was generally downhill, with a few nice slides! We were going quite slowly, so John and I had time to poke into the various side-passages where the water drains away, and where there are various dams and digs, both of us want to get to know this place better.
Once again I failed to enjoy the exposed step down from Tratman's above the streamway, but now I think I have it. Una was behind me and with her shorter legs I did not want her to think it was difficult! But we all managed to get down OK and headed on downstream. Here there was a lot more foam, and when we finally arrived at the sump it was like a bubble bath. We had a bit under two hours left to us, but decided there was no point in going through the sump as we would only turn around 10 minutes later and come back through again. So we took a break and dug out the Mars bars.
The route out from Sump 1 was very slow indeed, Una has been working some very long shift hours recently and she was getting tired. But we took a steady pace and John and I helped her up the waterfalls and spotted for her. Una didn't fancy the climb up to Barne's Loop so we made the mistake of exiting along the rift which is a bit of a grind compared to the upper route. Coming up through the various waterfalls, especially the 'Double pots' was fun, from previous trips I know where to find the handholds which was as well as the white water made it hard to see them.
When we reached the 'Twenty' it was to find a group from the BEC just coming down; when they were clear I found our ladder and line rigged so quickly shinned up and got the lifeline ready for Una. The waterfall was thunderingly loud, conversation was impossible, this is where knowing the climbing calls really pays off. It took a while but eventually we were all safely up.
I de-rigged and stowed our kit and then found the BEC ladder and rigged it, I had seen them all free-climb down so guessed they had no rope. We were about to leave when I spotted a second ladder tucked up on a shelf, this did have a rope, and just in case this other group came out before the BEC party did I thought I'd best rig this rope too, so John started on out with Una whilst I stayed behind to do this. It didn't take me too long to catch them up, and soon we were at the 'Forty'. John was first up, Una has short legs and found it difficult to stand up on the first foothold against the powerful downrush of the water. After a few abortive attempts with me trying to boost her up we decided to use the rope. John quickly rigged a line from the top and with something to lean on and to prevent her slipping back again Una was soon at the top. I screwed the rope into a bundle and headed upstream where there was room enough to stop and tidy the kit away, this was the last significant climb and we shouldn't need it again.
I lead out back up the streamway, this time I took the short-cut I had spotted before as it avoids climbing up under another waterfall and from there it's just a short way to the entrance. A lot of spray coming out and then I was out blinking in the daylight. Una was some way behind me climbing up through the choke, I sat down in the 'lake' outside and jammed my backside into the inlet hole to give her some respite as she climbed up through the water. I was so engrossed watching the water level rise in the lake that I didn't actually hear either of them come out, and they hadn't seen me down below the wall.
Congratulating ourselves on a job well-done, and after an equally muddy walk back across the fields to a shiveringly cold change in the barn and we finally returned to the Cabin within about 15 minutes of our scheduled time, our slow exit from Sump 1 had eaten well into our leeway time. But perfect timing; after a cup of coffee and a warm-up by the fire, dinner followed shortly afterwards...
