It was a cold and wet Thursday evening, the kind that makes you question your life choices. The time had come for me to go on an actual caving trip with the Eldon lot. The venue of choice was P8, a nice and easy one to learn some SRT and do my first professional caving photo shoot.
We gathered at the usual car park just after 6:45 PM, where I met the team: Jim, Chris, Jon, Luke, and myself (Josh). There was a brief round of introductions, then some light small talk that lasted barely 30 seconds before quickly graduating into heavier stuff... I was then given the Eldon's spare gear, which took me a good minute to work out what I was looking at before being helped by the others. The rented gear also included Luke's undersuit, which kept me warm throughout the trip but at the cost of being slowly strangled; a fair trade-off.
With five of us ready, we set off toward the cave entrance. This sparked a few friendly debates about its exact location, with several “it’s definitely this way” moments. By the time we arrived, the stream was running low; apparently, it can become quite aggressive during periods of high water, which makes for an entertaining climb into the cave.
Once inside the cave, I meandered through the twists and turns, impressed by the many fossils embedded in the walls, though for others, it was probably like looking at wallpaper. I also quickly understood why cavers often ditch their SRT kit at the first opportunity; it can become quite cumbersome.
Soon we were at the first pitch. I got an in-depth explanation on how to use the descender and cow tails, then after a few failed attempts, I was able to gradually get to the bottom of the 8m waterfall.
As I got to the bottom, Ben Marks, who was taking some freshers down, joined the queue to make the pitch. I then tried to pull myself up a ledge and ended up embarrassing myself by falling flat on my back in the pool below me, before succeeding on my second attempt.
My embarrassment was thankfully short-lived as it was at that moment that Jim, while attempting to impress the newbies, found himself momentarily “paused” on his short cow tail mid-pitch, right in full view of our group and the freshers. What followed was a lengthy struggle of him attempting to unhook his carabiner from the rope while dangling mid-air. Despite the wait, I'm sure I can speak for myself and the freshers when I say that we are grateful for Jim taking the time to teach us a valuable caving lesson: no matter how experienced you are, there's always room for improvement.
When Jim had finally freed himself and reached the bottom, we then climbed up a large boulder bridge straddled on top of a rift to continue the journey. Similarly to above ground, navigating the cave caused various discussions around which direction was the right way to go. This was not something I was expecting to hear while caving with the mighty Eldon, but it can be forgiven, as none of the group had been in P8 for at least a few years. Fortunately, we did eventually manage to find the second pitch, which is slightly larger than the first. I attempted again to set myself up for the pitch, but Jon kindly pointed out that my descender was set up wrong before I made the jump, saving my life in the process.
Other highlights from the trip included a vice-like squeeze similar to the one in Giants and the end chamber, where you meet the first sump, which had a high ceiling with various impressive formations. The group decided that cave diving is most likely slightly outside of my current skill range, meaning we had to turn and make our way back to the entrance.
On the way back, it was time for me to learn how to ascend the two pitches. The second pitch went much better than the first as I slowly learnt to use my legs to push rather than pull with my arms. During my ascent, I made sure to let everyone know that the reason for my slow speed was “leg day”, and nothing else.
During the final pitch, I also received my first cave shoot, courtesy of John and his fancy photography equipment. Even though it took a while with my foot getting cold in the waterfall, it was well worth the wait. My only complaint is that the gormless expression on my face was due to myself being under the impression that it would not be visible. Regardless, this will still make for a solid inspirational post on LinkedIn.
The first pitch - zooming in is not allowed
Eventually, we made it back out and to the car in decent time. The anchor, being the pub of choice, was unfortunately closed, but to be tried again next time.
Overall, it was a great first trip with the Eldon as I’m easing into the art of caving. Despite the many sights and challenges in the cave, most of my entertainment came from the conversation over the few hours together. I had wondered what caving groups would talk about on these trips, and while it wasn't what I expected, it certainly did not disappoint. On to the next one.