Team: JoeB, RobE
A mixture of work, bad backs, and general malaise meant it was just me and Soulless Joe this evening. We were really keen to get back into the new chamber, survey it, push the inlet above, and maybe have a little dig at the wet way on. Two people was fine for that task and we were keen.
To aid inserting myself into the inlet I chose to wear a furry. Not just any furry though; my brand new Misty Mountain one which I was really keen to try out. Joe, as always, sporting his wetsuit. Prebeers enjoyed and off we went. We had a bunch of sandbags to take in, as we figured this may help with building a wall to stack behind, but without a tackle bag I stuck them inside my oversuit, which along with my phone, survey gear, and other bits n bobs made me even more inelegant than normal.
We got to Inglorious and set off towards Loper Lust, Joe in front. I was wittering on about some random crap when I hear Joe say “It’s a bit wet”. My mind snaps into gear and realise there’s no draught. Shit, it’s sumped. The heavy downpour over the weekend has obviously left its mark on LL, even though the rest of the cave was in pretty normal conditions. Shit. Joe floats into the crawl to inspect whilst I wait at the pool at the start. After some spluttering he informs me he’s reached the last airbell and it’s totally sumped from there onwards. What to do…? Forwards from there is the tightest bit, but it’s only maybe 3m long, and it quickly slopes up beyond. We tentatively discuss the situation, each not wanting to play our cards too soon. It was pretty clear to me that Joe was keener than me. I blame that on my furry suit and mass of paraphernalia hanging off me, glasses included, but I’ve a feeling that ball size probably came into it too. We um’d and ar’d a bit longer, then Joe came back. We turned around and instantly regretted it. On the crawl we discuss that this is how all good adventures start, with an opportunity to flee but where the fearless continue. I point out that’s also how stupid people die. We feel marginally better…
Now not even 8pm I came up with a list of things we could waste some time doing. This started with ascending into the mined section at the far end of Inglorious to have a poke at some new bits, which Joe had never been up. We first dug into a small, natural bedding plane which lead to the left to a dead end, and right back into Inglorious. We then climb up above Inglorious into a nicely decorated chamber but with no possible ways on we retreat.
Smoke testing from Shattered Dreams rift into the higher levels
Next on the list (which I was hoping to do on the way out anyway) was a smoke bomb exercise, testing to see if the draught in some of the passages higher up in Cussey comes from the lower stuff or from somewhere else. The main hope was a crack in the back of Poetry Corner, which kinda points SW towards the new divers’ bit, so hot territory. Having allowed Joe ample time to make his way up I set off two big pellets at the far eastern end of the Shattered Dreams rift and follow him up. Heading up the pitch was fine, but when I got to the top smoke was pouring out of all the cracks like tendrils and by the time I was in the squeeze visibility was very low! I stumble my way to Joe and indeed Poetry Chamber was filling up nicely from all directions too, strongly suggesting that the draught is all from Shattered Dreams. Rubbish, but useful nonetheless.
Out by 21:15, we console ourselves with beer in the Moon and discuss the great adventure that we knowingly walked away from. Maybe next week....