Caving with the CCCC in the Yorkshire Dales

Caving landscape

This weekend saw me heading off to the Yorkshire Dales with the Cambridge Caving and Climbing Club. This was going to a great learning weekend for me, as I would get to use the Single Rope Technique (SRT for short) to hop up and down a few pitches mid cave. I'd learnt the basics at the Kelsey Kerridge climbing wall a couple of weeks prior, but was experiencing a little bit of memory fade from that occasion, so was hoping that I would pick it back up again without too much difficulty.

In caving gear and ready to go!

On the Friday evening we all travelled up in a couple of cars, and we got to the lodge around about 10pm. The hut belonged to the Red Rose Caving Club, but we'd booked some spaces in the visitor's bedroom, so were set for sleeping quarters! The hut was much nicer than I expected. For guests, it had a kitchen, a dining room with a bench, fireplace and projection screen, two bedrooms sleeping 8-10 people each, a drying room and a changing area with plentiful hooks and hot showers. Bliss! Everything we needed was there! I was inexplicably knackered after the four hour car journey, so after a cup of tea, and a brief bit of chin-wagging with friendly club members, I turned in to sleep. Well, when you heard me saying sleeping 8-10 people, I suspect you imagined ten beds like a dormitory. However, these 'beds' were basically a long mat surface style material in two bunks. It took me only a moment, however, to discover that with my sleeping bag in tow, they were pretty comfortable! I was sparko about ten minutes after getting my head down... 

 

The beds

 

I woke up to hear wailing all around me! The fire alarm! Forgetting I was on the rather low bottom bunk I sat bolt upright and whacked my head! Cradling it, I then tried to slide out sideways with a surge and immediately head butted a strategically placed supporting wooden pillar. Sort of...eye first. If the bruise comes out, I think I will tell people it was from a falling rock. It sounds a little bit more daring than 'I eye butted a bunk bed'. A brief investigation of the alarm (during which I was the only one in my bedroom who tried to escape!) proved it was nothing to worry about, and I gave way to the probable double concussion by going back to sleep.

Saturday – Bull pot of the Witches

Saturday morning was a pretty leisurely affair in comparison to some trekking groups! Everyone just sort of woke up naturally between 7.30am and 8.00am; I didn't hear any alarm going off. For this weekend, Stuart was in charge of the cooking. I came to the kitchen to start helping with the prep. A bit of veg chopping and arrangements on trays, and I think brekkie was well on its way! I went to have a quick morning shower. The breakfast was much appreciated! I had heard rumours that the past couple of trips it had been quite minimalist, but luckily that trend didn't continue this time. If you're going to spend the whole day wet and muddy, you should do it with your belly full of eggs! Okay, that sounds a little odd now that I've said it!...

 

Beautiful countryside around here!

There was a post breakfast period of kitting up and getting everything all sorted and organised. For the caves we had to wear a sort of fleecy under suit (called a furry), a more waterproof over suit, a whistle for safety, and then all the SRT harness and kit on top. By the time I was fully kitted, I felt like I could barely move! I certainly couldn't bend my knees very well! But what I found was that as the day went on, after about an hour, I was moving around quite easily and used to the gear.

Finally, into the cave! We went in a smaller broken off group of two beginners (me and a girl called Priti) and three pros (Geoff, Gordon and Stuart). Today's cave was called Bull pot of the Witches, and the entrance was literally just behind the caving hut. Over the fence, the path wound down and round in a spiral. The path was gravelly and a little slippery. We could see an area on the left where a small waterfall cascaded down into the cave. Bearing in mind the time I almost fell off of the top of a waterfall a few months ago due to my own clumsiness, I was extra cautious here. I was amazed by how cool it was! We all have a long and a short cowstail attached to our harnesses, to attach to safety ropes for when the footing is precarious or we need to safely attach our SRT gear.

By the waterfall near the entrance

 

Stuart had gone ahead first and set up the first rope for us all to use. I stepped through into the cave, and almost immediately we encountered a pitch. A pitch is a drop within a cave which often requires a ladder or SRT usage. This one wasn't a straight drop, however. It was sort of a wiggly one that required a little bit of squirming past outcrops of rock. I attached my cowstails and my stop, and then carefully checked my system before committing myself to it. Unfortunately, the line did not extend all the way to the bottom of the pitch. At the very last wiggle, we had to do a little bit of free climbing down. I had Gordon spotting me as I clambered down in a very uncoordinated manner! There was a little bit of flat walking for a few minutes during which I was marvelling at how amazing it was to be able to come down here and explore! Even though I am obviously not discovering anything new, for myself personally it was a discovery. One part of which is, its quite fun sliding down ropes!

There was a bigger pitch coming up. All the ledge directly in front of it was basically angled to cause anybody to slide straight off it and down the pitch. The rope line as well had been partially deviated away from the edge to avoid the rope rubbing, and you had to remove and replace the rope deviation in mid-air to help those behind you. When it got to my turn, I was so short that I had to take a step down onto a mini outcrop of rock to give me enough reach to get the line. You'd better believe I was already on the safety line! I finally managed to grab it and get my stop on. The line went along diagonally to start with because of the deviation. It took me a little while to work out how to remove and replace the deviation carabiner, but after a little struggle I managed it! I slid down the rest of the rope with no problems.

Stalactites

We came to a little mini chamber with what looked like two exits, but to get further on one you would have needed to climb up and over slippery rock. I watched Stuart having a clamber about on the rope, but not being nearly as tall as he is, I knew I couldn't quite expect the same ease! I chickened out a little bit on that, I'm afraid. Geoff had gone ahead to scope out the path ahead and set up rigging for the next pitches. There was a little period of waiting here as they did this, so I took the opportunity to scarf some food and have a swig of tea. Gordon had very kindly taken my tea Thermos in his 'caving handbag', so it was shared with those that wanted it. We had to clamber under a little arch and across and down a ledge to a lower level still. From here it was a little bit more of a crouch/crawl in a gentle trickle of water. We caught up to the riggers, and had to wait until that was completed so we sat again. I noticed I was getting a little bit cold from the waiting, despite the tea. So when the classic caving experiment 'Let's all turn off our lights and see how dark it is' was proposed I have to admit to not being too keen on that!

Finally the last pitches were rigged and we made our way down. The last one was a little awkward and squeezy to get down onto. After this was a short spiral down to the bottom. This wouldn't be the end of the cave, but to go any further would be in freezing cold rising water, so we decided to turn back around. I had the always humbling human experience all having to remove literally all of my clothes and SRT gear in order to answer a call of nature! The others, understandably wanting to keep their sanity intact, went out of sight for this experience . It took me an absolute age to get it all back on again!

We had a brief detour here where we climbed up and traversed along a little corridor. At the end we found a full stream at the bottom of the bank! Pretty epic!

Attached to the rope and about to make my way up!

But what I didn't realise was that the fun was just beginning! After all the down going into the cave, we now had to come out all the way up! It took me a few minutes to work out the gear and how to jumar again, then I started with gusto up the first pitch! This technique is where you place a hand jammer and a chest jammer on the rope and essentially keep transferring your weight to and fro on and off them to allow them to slide up the rope. There is a loop you stand in to allow you to do this. After a little while the effort can be quite tiring! But definitely doable, and basically just as fun as it sounds! Swinging up a rope in mid air inside a cave...well my day just reached its perfection limit – new environment, new skills and physical activity. Gordon had gone on in front of me, and was there to help with me the awkward wiggling needed to get back on the upper ledge. We waited below the larger deviated pitch for the others, and I knew the offer of a cheese and onion pasty would be gratefully received by the eternally hungry Gordon! I wasn't wrong! I was surprised by how well the pasty lasted in the wet cave – it was barely squashed! There you go, Ginsters, there must be some marketable information in there somewhere!

We waited for everyone to get up the pitch to where we were, then Geoff asked who was first up the next pitch – I knew it would be me! I found moving the deviation much easier this (one on a lower pitch had given me another bit of practice), and got up with a bit of fluster but no incident. It wasn't too much drama making our way up the rest of the sections, and before long we were emerging back into the fresh air! I did feel a bit bad for the pros in the group, who had to hang back and de rig it all as we went. But it means I got to sit for a while by the waterfall, and just appreciate the air and the sunlight.

Caving hut life (Gordon and Stuart)

We all made our way back up to the hut together, and there ensued kit cleaning and attempts at drying. After this I had a blissful shower where all the mud melted off. Then I stood in my clean clothes under a blanket, with a cup of tea, staring out across the beautiful landscape around us. Then Stuart was again on dinner duty, and there was very nice veggie chilli provided! A whole group of people sat in the hut living room, talked about all the places they had been and things they had seen. The fire was going for a wee while, and I sat and played cards. A very nice little crowd! But aware of tomorrow's adventure to come, I peeled off early to bed.

 

Caving suits drying for the next day

Sunday – Notts 2

Today has gone on my list of hairy adventures along with the aforementioned waterfall incident, almost sliding all the way down a hard packed snow slope and the time I almost caused myself lung damage when I panicked whilst scuba diving (see previous blogs if you want to see the actual amount of times I have almost accidentally killed myself!). Don't worry, I'll explain.

The ladders and scaffolding down into Nott 2

So, the entrance to Notts 2 is a small square manhole cover about fifteen minutes from the hut. It's only a step or two away from the road. People in front of me are lowering themselves down. I look down and see that a solid looking metal platform is there. Brilliant! No prob. I lower myself down and crouch on the platform. I look out where the others have gone. Then I see the reality. This shaft, which felt about 100 feet long for each section, is fitted out with steel ladders lashed and bolted to the shaft side, and criss-crossing bars. They are so interlaced that there would be no way to send someone through it on a rope without it constantly catching. One section of this descent required you to lean back against the wall and place your feet only in breeze blocks on the opposite side. There is a short sort of false bottom where you crawl for a few metres, and then another similar shaft to make your way down. This was terrifying, especially when I could see water on some of the scaffold bars, but also exhilarating and really fun! A huge climbing frame with the ultimate consequence. I was pleased to be at the bottom, however. What is amazing is that this is obviously an artificially created shaft to allow access to the caves proper, and they managed to dig this shaft, lashing up this protection as they went!

Cave formations

 

Then there was a squeezy bit where we slid down, went up and over a bulge of rock and back down another ladder. Another hairy bit here! With no rope, we needed to lean out over the edge of this rock formation and get our feet on the strategically placed scaffold bar, then double back to shuffle to the point where we can climb down the rock. Even with shouts of assistance from the more experienced cavers, it definitely took a little bit of logistical thinking to work out how to do it safely!

But now all of this downwards had been navigated, we got to see the real body of the cave, and it was pretty spectacular. We collected the group together in a little chamber to ensure everyone was still here and safe. There was inexplicably a little bucket suspended on a rope in the corner! I wondered if it had been used to get water from a source whilst digging. We carried on down a little gravel hill. The experienced members made a point of telling us that we should always look backwards as well as forwards when coming to any junction in a cave, as it may not otherwise look familiar when we are trying to navigate back to the surface. I made a point of doing it. We started down in the streamway, which ran all the way through all the rest of the cave. To start off with, it only seemed like a little trickle. But as we went along, the streamway became more turbulent. Underfoot, the rocks were slippery and unstable, meaning extra care had to be taken. Wedged rocks were suspended above in some areas, and there were some mini trickles of water to duck under. Some areas required scrambling or climbing up small drops where the water was rushing through. I love this style of movement, intuitive and natural, taking nature in your stride. The walls were close as we moved through this section. Some places had ropes or small rope ladders in situ along the wall, but I had no idea how long these things had been down here. Gordon mentioned that these sorts of features are good for navigating within the cave, using them essentially as 'tick off points' that had to be reached before an important turn would come up.

 

Cave formations

After travelling along for a little while, we came to a t junction and went off to the right. That is when the cave's features really came into their own. After another short bit of narrow streamway, the path widened out. We began to see beautiful stalactites, 'straws', 'carrots', 'curtains' and more. Some of the features looked like a dragon had been flying upwards and got stuck in the room of the cave halfway with only his tail and wing tip visible. Some were multiples colours like the black and milky white formation. One looked like an altar with white cloth draped over it. It was so cool to see all of this stuff underground! The path around them was still pretty wet. At one point we had to go I'd say hip height into the water. It was cold enough to make me gasp! Some parts of the path also had conservation tape to avoid people trampling over delicate areas or damaging features. Despite these efforts we did see that one of the formations looked like it had been deliberately splattered with mud, and another had part of the bottom snapped off. That is pretty sad.



Looking up at some of the cool formations in Notts 2

I'm not sure how long it took to get right along this streamway with all the admiring and photography, but eventually it came to an apparent end (although I could see a crawlspace that I suppose might have led on?), and we turned back. We made our way back to the junction and had a little explore the other way too. The water in this pathway seemed much more turbulent than the first way we took. A couple of the hops down were very wet and took a little bit of balancing and wedging between walls so as not to get too wet. I was expecting it to run just as long as the first passageway, but it was only a very short time before we had to turn back. I was a bit disappointed, but apparently beyond where we stopped was only one very steep waterfall and then the actual end of the passageway.

I was pretty proud of myself on the way back, as due to looking back on the way in, I had been able to remember the turn-offs on the way back. This bodes well for not killing myself in a cave! It didn't seem long before we were again approaching the squeezes that led up to the entrance shaft. Probably my idea of what constitutes a 'squeeze' is very different from most experienced cavers! By 'squeeze' I mean we had to duck our heads a bit. Yes, I know, I know. When I finally experience a real squeeze I will look back at that with fond memories!

 

 

Little straws

Anyway, back at the bottom of the ladder and scaffolding shafts. And I have to say, that going up was infinitely less scary than going down. At least I knew my feet were firmly planted when I was climbing up! It seemed to flow by without too much difficulty. It might have felt slightly slower to poor Geoff who was stuck behind me, however! Still, it wasn't too long before I poked my head out into the fresh air, and the miraculous sight of the sun and green earth. A few cameras went off as I came out of the shaft! After sitting about deliberating for about fifteen minutes, we finally got up and walked the short distance back to the car. Even with the short walk, my legs were aching like crazy as I walked and chatted with Gordon. I think all the nerves and tense climbing had hit me!

 

Priti emerges from the entrance shaft

Once back at the hut, there was a rush to pack up kit and supplies there. I had a quick shower and a cup of tea, and before long it was back in the car for the long journey back!

This was a brilliant trip for me, and something that I think has definitely cemented a love for exploring caves in me. I hope that I can go on to do harder caves, more SRT and (of course) see more pretty cave stuff! Watch this space for more adventures.




Emerging from Notts 2

Flatt7