Magnetometer Pot Part Two. Aaare here we go then,where was I?Or should i say where did we leave Steve?Shuffling down a muddy stony crawl?Thats right.Not just him you know,we were ALL there lending him our support!! Onward we go through the Dry Crawl,oh me poor knees!It aint very high here you know.We have to do a bit of map reading even down here you know,the boys regularlyconsult the photocopied northern Caves pages 67 68 69 (My book is from 66-70? How olds theirs?) we go through to turn left at a T junction,forever downward into the depths,will Mother Earth let us out later? we find some nice delicate but easy squeeze throughs where you get part way through then the downward slope pops you out funny that seem to have a few like that in here its the mud you see made from water and dust but their isnt any of that down here,dust wouldnt have a chance...On on the well pitch is looming up,whats after it? Ah River Styx,oh what joy that was! I did ask whether I should wear my wet suit! Well the roof got lower and lower more and more we moved on or should i say crawled like beached whales!(do they crawl?Down here they would)maybe the only similarity was the interminable water seeping into your suit!Suffice to say even when trying your hardest you cant help but get WET!The longest WET crawl ive ever done. it says 91 metres in my book,isnt kind enough to convert to feet!! In the teams copy it is,300 foot,THREE HUNDRED FOOT! crimees it felt like it!Long Wet Crawl,Imaginative name isnt it. Well there was lots more to come we were at times,wading chest deep through a large canal,then there was the tight squeezing passages again,more tunnels transforming gradually into fissures the only way to progress was to climb up higher into them,all the time admiring as you dry out the things water can do to our Mother Earth.Balancing from one ledge across to the other,thinking all the time were next.Youre totally absorbed down here, no time to think of car servicing or bank managers in a Grade III-IV !!! As we progressed onward my thought where to how time was flowing like the water that formed this place.How energy was flowing from my weary bones,my sore knees,We STILL had to turn and get out.I used caution and said to the guys I was adamant that I wasnt going to do the last pitch they were rigging.I needed all my reserves to have enough energy to get out,I knew I,d pay for the beauty she was showing me! ( I must add here,that we dont go empty handed down these places,we had first aid kits,team bivvi bags and in one of the stuff sacs we had two flasks,My blend of drinking Chocolate. Vimto that Steve had mixed and in my hat I had bivvi bag and glory glory.four titan bars and two oatmeal bars.Suffice to say I ate them all on this trip!) You dont forget the straw stalagmites or other little wonders the solidified rock which looks like bubbling wet mud! Or the delight on the way back on the left of one of the small tunnels was I can only call it an alcove with a stalagmite and stalagmite formed into one,broad at base and top.It looked like an angel. I was glad I saw it and remarked how beautiful it was to Steve who by this time was following me on the outward journey. Well leave it there tonight.I,m nearly as exhausted as the day we caved!!!! (Ive been digging up a long pipe over TWO DAYS!!! How these cave explorers do it I,l never know?They must be young?) Anyway as Steves been a good boy,as have Karl and Brian shuffling along.digging at each other( forgive the pun) and making up as the team we are.Chucking and hauling our tackle bags as though gold..Two flasks remember! Well leave them admiring the Angel of Magnetometer Pot. More tomorrow.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 19:19:58 +0000
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