Team: Kristian B, Joe B, Jon P, Rob M, Rob E
After last week’s incredible breakthrough todays was all about getting plenty of the Vulgarious digging team down to enjoy the reward for our efforts. Unfortunately a few couldn’t make it but the team of 5 still had a great time.
So at the upstream end of what we connected to is Sump 2. This is an annoying little sump, because behind it is the Master Cave streamway. We really need this to be accessible to dry cavers, so in the near future our plan is to lower the sump, somehow. Fortunately there is a 1.4m drop about 6m downstream of the sump, which gives us various options. However to know the best engineering option we really needed an accurate profile of the roof of the sump to know what we’re up against.
So today’s plan was to split into two teams: Jon and Kristian were to go take photos of A Race Against Time whilst RobM was to assist me and Joe through the short Sump 2 and into the Master Caver proper. In preparation for this I’d gotten a high accuracy depth logger off John Gunn (many thanks!) and set it to take readings every 5s. After much consideration I decided to actually use my head and attached it to my helmet just behind the Scurion.
At the car park we met up with two other Eldon members JimT and SamP who were planning to have a poke about Cussey and see if they could get through the Shattered Dreams squeeze (I hear they did).
Bags fully packed, this hoard of Eldonites (plus RobM) skipped pre-beers(!) and headed down by 19:00. It felt great carrying the first cylinder ever down Cussey, just a simple sign of the progress we’re making down this mega cave. Of course it also felt pretty horrific too with it catching on everything. RobM said they were 3 litre cylinders but down Cussey they were definitely bigger and heavier than that. Probably didn’t help that I also had a long bit of table leg protruding out of the top of my bag!
We actually made good time and pretty soon were all through the very filthy Loper Lust and starting the even filthier crawl along our Vulgarious Bastard dig. Once at the new Rift Chamber I installed my table leg stemple to aid the exposed climb down then started bailing the wet crawl forwards. This didn’t work very well so me and Joe both went through and started digging a trench the other side to drop the water level. Even with this effort, it's a hilariously awful bit of cave, which is brilliant considering what it now connects to!
And so here we were, all 5 of us sat in the incredible A Race Against Time, surrounded by Rob’s tackle bags. Whilst he sorted the gear, me and Joe lay in a pool trying to clean off the Vulgarious filth in a hopeless attempt to keep the sump a bit cleaner on our way through, and Kristian and Jon run off to get photos.
Both myself and Joe have very limited diving experience, mostly open water stuff many years ago, and were both a little apprehensive. However we actually felt weirdly comforted by Rob’s apparent apprehension also. This was because he wasn’t nervous because it was particularly dangerous, but because he wanted to make sure he did everything right for us, which we appreciated! And whilst he admits it’s not normal practise to “teach cave diving” like this, this sump is a potential freedive so i'm told the rules are different here.
I go first, the two 3l cylinders and all the paraphernalia feeling very awkward until I lay in the water. Having done a fair bit of freediving recently I was thankfully pretty confident and relaxed. I take a deep breath and head under water, then instantly giggle to myself. I didn’t need to do that. I can actually just continue to breathe. This is awesome!
The sump was a beautiful alluring blue with visability about 5m. And it’s big enough to actually swim through. I pop up in the halfway airbell, making sure not to let go of the dive line. Here there’s a voice connection back to the others, which may be very handy if it ever becomes a freedive site. The next section is less deep but near the end there’s a naughty little constriction that you need to duck under. With the great vis I was able to navigate that pretty easily, even with the two cylinders, and then surface the other end in a haze of jubilation and excitement.
As part of Rob’s considered logistics, he follwed me through and took both the cylinders off me, then went back (now with 3!) to assist Joe through. This hilariously left me alone on the wrong side of the sump with no gear, so I’m very glad they came through with no issues. Even through his zero vis, Joe was smiling ear to ear.
Apologies for the muddy start, i had other things on my mind!
We de-kit then head off along Winking Passage, which is similar to A Race Against Time (i.e. incredible!). As we progress we start to hear a rumble ahead, an added spice of theatre as the Stoney Middleton Master Cave is finally revealed at a tall T-junction. We head upstream and just wow! Roughly 350m of incredible streamway in places 6m high. In parts it feels quite like the Lower Bung Streamway in Speedwell although consistently taller, presumably from additional vadose incision here as you’re heading up dip quite steeply. We pass numerous boulder collapses and chambers, some pretty big, all with enticing leads in the roof. A few small passages off to the sides also look to be interesting digs too. Basically, we’ve got a lot of work to do in there. Eventually we reach the upstream sump which is a very inviting looking prospect for the divers. It’s 1.3km to Waterfall Swallet in a straight line = Lots to go at!
We turn around and enjoy stomping back down the streamway. Back at the T-junction we head downstream now which is smaller but still very pleasant. The water is lost down small pots and cracks and can be heard rumbling away below. An awkward step up to the right marks the start of an excellent section of walking sized vadose passage which after about 100m reaches the downstream sump. This is really muddy and is going to pretty minging to dive, but it’s still very enticing as it’s ~18m higher than the Boil-up and heading over towards Nickergrove and Merlins.
Now back at Sump 2 we kit up and have a steady dive back through. This time the vis was zero for all of us and that reliance on the tiny blue dive line became very apparent. Still a brilliant feeling though. Back now in A Race Against Time, it’s amazing how this section feels less remote all of a sudden. We pack up the gear (well RobM does whilst we accidentally drop bits in muddy pools and generally prove unuseful) just as Jon and Kristian return from their photoing. A weirdly well timed plan. We each share tales of our adventures then set off back through Vulgarious with gear spread between us. I was at the front and was expecting a queue to build up at the bottom of Inglorious Bastards pitch, so I went for it. By the time I was nearly out I realised I was mentally and physically knackered. Such is the toll I suppose for having one of the best trips of my life.
All out safely by midnight, what a trip!
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And as for the data from the depth logger. It's good news. The logger recorded a maximum depth of 1.15m, with much of the sump less than 70cm deep. And that's with ~10cm of GoPro above, so the actual depth may be slightly less. I reckon some trench digging might be in order….
