10th December 2010 - New Rift Pot

In the description of New Rift it mentions that even with moderate rain the crawl between the first and second pitches can become impassable. It hasn't rained in weeks but the cold snap had ended during Wednesday night and with temperatures rising by the best part of 20 degrees what effect would the snow melt have had?

With neither of us ever having visited Rift before, there was only one way to find out...

As we drove up the lane to Mason gill we could see that a lot of water had come down recently with gravel strewn across the road in a number of places. Just before the water treatment works the sheet ice started and Tom skillfully turned the car around before parking on the most ice free spot we could find.

Finding the large shake hole in which the entrance sits, our worst fears were becoming a reality. The remaining snow was melting fast and all of the melt water was making it's way down the wood covered opening. As we geared up we heard an ominous rumble from within, a lump of ice making its way down the first pitch.

From within the entrance we began to get an idea of the amount of material held back by earlier explorers using wood shuttering. Neither the state of some of the wood, nor the water filtering through it filled us with much confidence, still there were some nice ice formations. An in-situ rope soon saw us at the bottom of the pitch and a first look down the crawl leading to the next pitch.

The water seemed to be confined to a very small trench in the crawl, so removing my SRT gear I set off to have a look. A couple of shallow pools were no match for my brand new, tailormade undersuit and so I kept going till a slot in the floor allowed me to stand up. Nice and cosy and working on the principle that the melt rate should be decreasing as the night set in, I set off down into another crawling section.

Unlike the wider passage that had gone before, this was more tube like. Another drop in the floor beckoned so I kept going until I had the disconcerting feeling of water coming over my shoulders. Though the drop in the floor was only a couple of feet away I crawled backwards as fast as I could, trying to let the backed up water run underneath me, rather than over. Standing once again and lesson learnt I made way back to Tom and the climb back up to the entrance.

Tom making his way out of the entrance (exit?)

Tom accepted my apology for possibly not the best choice of cave and the forshortened nature of the trip with unparalled grace. It was almost as though he was happy to be making his way back to the pub so soon.

As we approached the water board building, there was something not quite right. On leaving the car it had been neatly parked by the side of the lane next to one of the walls. It now sat nearly right across it about 6 feet further down the lane. The handbrake was still on and there was no sign of outside interference. Spooky.

"I'm sure this is where I parked the car."

John would have loved this trip, we probably spent longer in the Craven Heifer than we did underground and still got home at a reasonable time.

My thanks go to Dennis at Jumpsuits for a fantastic new undersuit and my apologies again to Tom for about the shortest trip of the season so far.

26th November 2009 - Low Douk Cave

With more rain having fallen over the course of the week and yet more again predicted, once more we headed off to find what we hoped would be a relatively dry cave.

Armed with another new light we climbed over the style on to the open moor to find a beautifully made footpath . Unfortunately it wasn't going the way we were.

The sink hole of Low Douk is easy to find but the "new" entrance looks a little unlikely.

The Power of Scurion

After a traverse over an open pot the way on is by way of a perfectly sized tube.

The open part of the cave from the traverse to the entrance

In the "New" entrance series

A short way along the tube a stream enters from the left. The amount of water this was bringing into the tube did not make continuing look like a fun prospect and we decided to turn around. John's perfect trip was in the offing - a retreat to the pub afer less than 5 minutes underground! Unfortunately he wasn't there to enjoy it.

Rather than heading straight back though we decided to try out our lights with a bit of filmaking, Dick trying his hardest to make the open pot look like a long and deep cave exploration. Finally all we needed was an "arriving at the sump" sequence and Dick spotted a likely looking niche in the wall that could serve as our "sump".

To his surprise the niche went, fine dry stone walling and fresh signs of capping leading the way on. In order to avoid a headlong descent onto the head of a small, but thankfully rigged pitch, a feet first approach is to be recommended. This in turn leads through into a small chamber fitted with a handy stemple and scaffolding beam, which again can be made best use of when approached feet first. A final squirm brought us onto a rigged traverse and a short drop into the "visciously" meandering streamway of Low Douk.

This "new new" entrance, courtesy of the Misty Mountain Mud Miners probably renders the old new entrance defunct, offering as it does a relatively easy and SRTless means of reaching the streamway.

We followed the streamway for a way downstream before figuring you can have too much fun constantly changing direction and having to move up and down the height of the rift to find the easiest way through. Having had a quick look in the roof of the rift we made our way back to the surface and a waiting hail storm. Last week getting into the car it had been 16 degrees, this week just 4. It's a good thing we'd chosen a cave on top of a hill as Tom's car wasn't happy without any petrol in it. There's always a reason for everything and had we not had to stop at the petrol station on the way to the Craven Heifer we'd never have seen the Wallis and Gromitesque headline, "Three peaks pooch collared again" on a bill board - must have been a slow news day.

Below - Video of the trip