Swimming in Spar Cave, Skye
- Thread starter mikem
- Start date
rhychydwr1
Active member
I go swimming all the year round.
Hi all,
I'm new here and hope I'm doing this correctly, rather than starting a new subject...
I was at spar cave today, after a little more than two weeks of no rain which is obviously very unusal for these parts.
I read a few guides before going to the cave, including one on this forum and all said the cave stops abruptly after the pool. Today, after the pool, the cave dropped away steeply to a crawl with water running from the pool and disappearing beneath the loose rocks.
I didn't continue past needing to crawl as I was but naked from my dip... However the sound of running water was loud.
I'm wondering if this second chamber, past the calcium carbonate sill at the end of the pool is usually flooded or not? The pool is well above sea level and so presumably there is scope for another chamber beneath/after the rubble.
I'm new here and hope I'm doing this correctly, rather than starting a new subject...
I was at spar cave today, after a little more than two weeks of no rain which is obviously very unusal for these parts.
I read a few guides before going to the cave, including one on this forum and all said the cave stops abruptly after the pool. Today, after the pool, the cave dropped away steeply to a crawl with water running from the pool and disappearing beneath the loose rocks.
I didn't continue past needing to crawl as I was but naked from my dip... However the sound of running water was loud.
I'm wondering if this second chamber, past the calcium carbonate sill at the end of the pool is usually flooded or not? The pool is well above sea level and so presumably there is scope for another chamber beneath/after the rubble.
mrodoc
Well-known member
That is interesting having visited the end myself and heard no water flowing. As an aside how many other readers have encountered the phenomenon of hearing water flowing somewhere it has never noticed. Some years ago we dug open the so called Viagra Rift at the entrance to Shatter Cave after I heard a stream flowing below the floor. I have never heard it before or since, just that one occasion when water levels were just high enough to cause flow noises to be heard but not too high so flow was silent. WE recently noticed a similar phenomenon at the entrance to the nearby Hillwithy Cave. In the 60's in Holwell Cave a new chamber was opened up when water could be heard flowing but never since. In the same cave some years ago I heard a stream flowing at the base of an impassable but open rift in the East Series of that cave - but never before or since. In Pridhamsleigh Cavern in Devon in flood conditions there is stream flow in parts of the cave as well.
The cave does continue for about 7mtrs of dry passage past the pool as you noted however it lacks the calcite covering of the rest of the cave. This is through the low crawl floored with rubble breakdown and terminates in a small sandy floored void with no further way on.
Not sure if the sound of falling water has been heard here in the past.
Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk
Not sure if the sound of falling water has been heard here in the past.
Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk
