27th March 2025 - R&R

 

With Tony away skiing (and once again seemingly with the slopes to himself!), Mike and I needed something to keep us busy on a Thursday evening. It's been very dry, the water levels are low and conditions should be right for good visibility (see here for a great John Cordingley explanation of vis. conditions). There'd also been a recent acquisition of a few bits of Warmbac neoprene so a Rowten recce seemed in order.

It's important to be prepared for trips like this and fortunately Mike was on it with quality banana bread, washed down with tea before the drive over to Kingsdale. Then for the short(est?) walk to the entrance and being unladen, quick scuttle along the roof tunnel to the pitch. SRT kits hung on the bottom of the rope we stomped up the main drain with just hoods, a mask, a camera and the description in hand. At the master junction we were both in new territory as we took the right hand branch and headed down Rowten passage. It's a cracking bit of cave, ripples in the water reflecting off the low arched roof. All too soon though we arrived at the sumps, a rope belayed from a thread indicating the way on.

We'd had a brief chat on the drive over about what this recce was going to be about and were in like mind about "just having a look". On paper the sumps are 1.5, 4 and 8 m long respectively. Today though a small airspace was visible through the first. With no worries about building up bad air, we both made our way through before conferring again. Things felt good. We were warm, visibility was good - perhaps a metre or so and the line so far was in good nick. Decision time. OK. I'd try going through to the  next bell and then come back. Calm my breathing, duck into the water and pull, pull, pull. Turning onto my back I was briefly aware of little silvery bubbles trapped on the roof and then a larger mirror, pierced by the rope - I was through. 

Wanting to spend as little time as possible in the bell I tried to get my breathing back under control and then hauled myself along the rope once more. Mike was waiting for a report and on hearing I didn't think it was too bad, we swapped over the mask and he disappeared into the sump. I don't know how long he was gone, but my perceived time I'm sure was longer than the actual time before he broke the surface once again. Mike too reported that it wasn't so bad and that the hood and mask combination worked well. It was decision time again.

Having read about the Langstroth sumps, the idea of 'bad air' in air bells really worries me. Both of us going back through the 4m sump and then waiting in the isolated bell while we tried the last sump therefore didn't appeal. I suggested to Mike that I'd like to try going back through, see how I felt and if all was good, proceed through to Rowten before returning. With him happy at this suggestion I once again calmed my breathing and pulled through to the second bell. Once again it took a little while to calm my breathing and while doing this I contemplated the next sump. Though the fact that it was twice the length should have been my main concern I was more preoccupied by the rope. Unlike the previous two, with thick, white 11mm, this was comparatively spindly, yellow 9mm. I gave it a good tug and reassured, dived.

This was more like falling a long way, I actually had time to think. Unlike with the previous dive I felt I was being pushed deeper by the roof and found myself working against the friction between my neoprene and the limestone. Just before my thoughts fully manifested themselves though the hoped for mirror appeared and I smashed through. Unlike the previous bell I now found myself in big, draughty cave - the bottom of Rowten. Not only did it feel chillier here, but I was well aware that Mike was waiting for me to return. As soon as my breathing steadied it was back towards the Master cave. This dive felt easier, the roof not being so much of an issue and the bell arrived sooner than I was expecting. The 4m back to Mike now felt short, but it was with very real relief that I surfaced next to him.

The stomp back down the main drain gave time for reflection. I had no idea how I would feel when we arrived at the sumps. Waiting until conditions were all in our favour definitely helped 

[in progress...]

18th March 2025 - Cantabrian prep

After last year's superb trip to Cantabria we've decided to go back and hoping that they'll love it as well, my family's going to join us too. While others aren't so sure, eldest has said he wouldn't mind a go at some caving, so needs to learn the ropes. We've had a couple of SRT lessons in a garden tree so the rest of the team decided he was ready for a proper trip. As it's mainly pull through trips we're planning on again this year, Simpson's seemed an ideal location. 

Picking Mike up is always a joy as there'll be a pot of tea on the go, accompanied by fantastic tray bakes. Today was no exception and replete with outstanding chocolate brownies, we headed to Devil's Bridge to meet Tony and then on to Kingsdale. The Dales look stunning in the low light of a spring evening and the trudge up to the Turbary road was almost pleasant. Mike's cave radar was working in high precision mode and he walked straight across the open moor to the entrance.

While the Swinsto long crawl is infamous, I'm sure it feels almost as far in Simpson's and personally I find it a bit more awkward. At least in Swinsto you know you're crawling, whereas Simpson's I feel I'm constantly transitioning between stooping and crawling. In both though it's a relief to reach the pitches. The Five Steps passed without incident and at their foot we geared up for the first real obstacle, the traverse over The Pit.

Gearing up to traverse the pit

The pitches now fall in quick succession and we were back into our familiar routine with eldest slotted in between us. Mike quickly rigged with Tony and I trying hard to pull down the previous rope and get it forward before eldest descended allowing Mike to move on again. I thought there might be a brief pause at the duck but the speedy duo were through by the time I got there and there was no let up in the pace. That is until an innocuous little slot before the Slit pitch where I came to crashing to a standstill. I'm blaming the camera in my chest pocket, but I really struggled. To make matters worse, when taking off my SRT gear to make myself more sleek, my descender and cowstails fell off into a puddle. Not noticing until Tony was also through, he kindly went back to retrieve them for me. By contrast the Slit pitch itself I managed to pass without issue and having had to use both of our ropes for the longer pitch, the team was briefly reunited at the bottom. 

Watching Tony negotiate the Slit pitch

The stomp down the main drain helped pump a bit of warm blood around after the aqueous passage from the Great Aven and we were soon at the pitch up into the roof tunnel. Eldest's new jammers seemed to do the trick and Tony and I were once again playing catch up to reach Valley entrance.

There was just one final stop to make to fully introduce eldest to the Thursday night club, a pint (of orange juice and lemonade!) in the Barn.

An integral part of a Thursday night trip

Huge thanks to Mike and Tony for looking after eldest on his first proper trip.

12th March 2025 - Definitely not boring

It's been a gorgeous few days with hardly any rain but someone had dumped a year 10 parents' evening on our usual caving night. While Tony already had other plans (and had already been doing a bit of sneaky caving on the side!), fortunately Mike was free for a Wednesday evening trip.

Last week's trip had inspired a Spiral Stairs conversation so, with low water levels, we decided on a Borehole trip with an exit via the Wetched Wabbit "short cut".

Wednesday night is definitely not caving night in Ease gill. Bull Pot farm looked deserted and there wasn't a parked car to be seen. It was therefore just the two of us that enjoyed the sunny wander across the moor to the valley. I'm sure the entrance to the Borehole has changed, I was looking for a slightly undercut crag, but Mike spotted a beautifully crafted drystone wall with a little door in it that was indeed our entrance.

While I struggled posting myself through the door I loved the following climbs and passage. Beautifully clean washed streamway with entertaining drops and the clearest water I've seen in a while. At times it was like being on a safari, small shrimp swam in the gin clear water, pond skaters skimmed across its surface and droplet covered gossamer threads hung from the ceiling.

Mike getting his knee pads on at the entrance to the Borehole

The Borehole passage has a feel of being less well travelled than other parts of Ease gill and has sections of pretty and unusual formations such as sections of anastamosic roof. No I didn't have a clue either! Look it up - there are some very pretty pictures not just of cave formations but of biological and river systems too.

There are some pretty formations

The passageway had felt very horizontal, at times to the point of making "downstream" difficult to discern. A step up from the winding rift soon saw us staring down a 15 m pitch. There was plenty of room to put on our SRT kit and a single exhibit museum. A slightly hairy slither led back down past a bar to a position from which I could rig the rope from 2 bolts.

Litter or relic?

It's not huge but it's a definitely well proportioned pitch that lands in a pool from where it's suggested to pull the ropes before free climbing down the last couple of metres.

The Borehole only has one pitch, but it's a quality one

More great passage follows before a real change in character occurs at Mottershead's chamber where things get distinctly more Ease gillesque. From this point the navigation also becomes a wee bit trickier but as ever armed with a Braemoor description (here), you know you can't go to far wrong.

Popping out close to the Green and Smelly choke we wanted to make sure we could slot in our current position with where we'd been last week so dropped down into the snaking streamway which soon brought us to a junction with T piece passage and well known ground.

Despite having SRT gear with us we opted for the free climbable route into Spiral Stairs via a pile of perfectly stacked rocks. At the only junction we turned left where straight on would have lead us back to the roped climb alternative to getting into the passage and began swiftly snaking our way towards the connection with Wretched Rabbit. Once again the dry stone waller's art was on display as we popped through the hole into more frequented passage and the classic climbs back up to the expertly sculptured new entrance. 

This is a cracking little trip which really does have a little bit of everything except anything unpleasant. Being short it also allows plenty of time in the pub afterwards to ponder its delights.

6th March 2025 - We like pull throughs

With Tony stateside it was just Mike and I that left the van and headed past Bull Pot farm towards the moors. The washing facilities at the stream were being put to good use by a couple of diggers, chuffed with having moved a boulder during the day's session. I'm pretty sure though that there was a glint of jealousy in their eyes when they heard how we were planning on spending our evening.

The bends at the start of the Pool Sink passage were soon negotiated and entry to the more spacious passage beyond gained.