It's been quite a while since we've hand an underground trip. For Mike and I our last was an unusual trip to Sleets gill and for Tony right back to our Rowten experience. The going back of the clocks signaled that it was time to get regular trips back up and running and a short trip to Long drop seemed to fit the bill.
I was a bit concerned that being on a course I might not even be able to make it and warned the others that I might be a bit late. The people running the course though definitely practice what they preach and made sure that I was let out in good time. My park beyond the where the traffic jams are/cycle the rest plan then played out perfectly and I was actually earlier than normal to Kirkby. The huge advantage of arriving early was even longer to enjoy a brew and superb ginger cake at Mike's.
With Tony's arrival we were chauffeured onto the moors in the poshest car that Mike and I have been in in a while and the fact that the information screen is stuck in Polish added to the exotic vibe. Leck fell always brings to mind wet and windy changes so the settled, unseasonably warm weather was a very welcome surprise. Mike then led on confidently across the moor and surprisingly soon we were at the fenced enclosure. I'm not quite sure what was going on behind me as we went over the style and began our descent of the shake hole but I think it involved Tony's destruction of one of Mike's prized tackle sacks!
There's been quite a lot going on at the bottom of the shake hole and as well as the usual way on there's now a newer shored shaft and some beautifully landscaped spoil. One of the new raised areas allowed a very civilised final sorting of equipment before we headed into the open cave mouth and the short drop down to the first pitch. The first SRT trip of the year is always a bit of an eye opener and arriving at the bolts I fumbled with all the bits of metal on my harness to find something that I vaguely remembered would help me down the pitch. As for threading it, well luckily Petzl are quite helpful and I followed the nice little graphic etched into my Stop until the rope took on a vaguely familiar shape.
