After three months of waiting, 4 drop outs, my wife being adamant that “you are not going caving again - I don’t care if it’s for your birthday” as well as encouraging messages from the eldon group chat such as “don’t worry, suggesting free climbing should ensure he dies nice n near the entrance 🤣👍” and “I'll stay in the peaks and wait for the DCRO callout 👌🏻😁”, the time had finally come for the giants hole round trip.
After our very successful trip at Carlswalk Cavern made it onto the “bad tips for cavers” Facebook group, we were determined to get this one right. Originally, we (Josh, Ben, Adam and Toby) were going to do this one alone; however, after some wise words from Rob Eavis, we decided to draft in reinforcements. Jon and Luke answered the call, and with that, our Giants Hole Round Trip team was complete.
In preparation for the trip, Jon introduced us to a revolutionary new piece of technology known as a helmet. Despite initial grumbling over the £15 price tag, everyone eventually agreed it was probably worth the investment. Joggers and jumpers still remained the outfit of choice for most, though I did turn up in a stylish new boiler suit courtesy of Temu. Anyway, that’s enough waffle, let’s get onto the caving…
^Before photo. I bet you can’t even tell the amateur cavers from the proper one.
It was an 8:30am start at the Giant's Hole car park and we soon found ourselves at the entrance. What very quickly became clear to me is the breakneck speed of Jon and Luke. They do not mess about. No time to take in the sights around us, it was strictly business. In about 5 minutes, we were at the top of Garland's Pot (a 7m waterfall) and down went the wire ladder. The transition downwards was easy enough, and before long, I was standing at the bottom.
^ The top of Garlands. I don't think this one is making it onto the Eldon home page anytime soon (caving photography can be challenging).
Not to get too sentimental, but standing at the bottom was a surreal moment. I’ve been coming to Giants Hole since my scout days and have made plenty of trips back with different friends and family. Every time, Garland’s Pot had been the stopping point, and I’d always wondered what lay beyond. Finally being at the bottom and being able to carry on felt like ticking off a long-standing goal.
^Another professional photo…
The Crabwalk turned out to be far more relaxing than I’d expected. Half a mile of tight, winding passage actually gave us the chance to lean against the walls, take some weight off, and press onward down the fairly low stream. I was mainly focused on keeping up with Luke, who kept me entertained with stories from his many caving adventures. I was so distracted, in fact, that I didn't notice we’d passed the Vice until I suddenly found myself heading down Razor Edge. We made a quick detour to peek at Sump 2 before carrying on to the Eating House.
At this point, we were offered the option to check out Geology Pot, an 11m waterfall, and we eagerly took it up. The traverse and climb to get there was a lot of fun, especially for Ben and Adam, who are the climbers of the group. I, on the other hand, preferred the traverse as we navigated the ledges above the drop with a line of rope to hold onto. Geology Pot was indeed a big drop and we then turned around and made our way back to the main route.
We headed up the climb at the Eating House and then took our second detour, this time to reach the top of Maggins Rift, an impressively large passage. For any non-cavers, a rift is like a canyon, except it's in a cave. After what seemed like a lot of climbing (my arms now getting tired), we found ourselves at the top of the rift. Apparently, the way onwards is called “the death series”, which we left for another day.
^Unsure where this is. Suggestions are welcome.
Back down the rift we went, making our way up the dry cascades toward Giant's Windpipe. We didn’t get a chance to see the infamous Chamber of Horrors or Poached Egg Passage this trip so we will have to check them out another time. For now, Giants Windpipe would have to do. The Windpipe itself was good fun, a shallow crawl through a tube that’s over half full of water, forcing you to constantly turn your head to avoid an involuntary mouthful.
^Going into the Windpipe.
After passing through some impressive passages with various calcite formations, we suddenly heard the rumble of the Crabwalk beneath us. Soon, we popped out on top of the Crabwalk, standing on a small ledge. Over the ledge stretched a narrow, 15m-high rift, with the Crabwalk at the bottom. We continued on, traversing over the drop with one stretched out foot on either side. Fortunately, we were accompanied by Jon’s wise advice to “make ourselves big” in case we fell into the black abyss beneath us, apparently a foolproof solution. At first, it was fine, with plenty of footholds to rely on. Eventually, though, we had to drop into the rift, pressing our feet against one wall and leaning our backs into the other to shuffle across. In practice, this looked and sounded far worse than it actually was.
This then brings you to the calcite Letterbox (or the Eyehole) Squeeze. Still perched above the drop, there’s a body-sized hole that you have to wriggle through on your side. On the other end, you’re greeted head-first by the drop down to the Crabwalk. You grab a conveniently placed handhold to pull the rest of your body through, then hunt for an elusive foothold to make sure you don’t tumble into the gap below. To be honest, even if you did fall, you could probably stop yourself by “making yourself big” (whatever that means), but it did take me by surprise. I’d heard plenty about Giants Windpipe, which was relatively tame, but nobody had mentioned this little gem.
Eventually, you can get close enough to the bottom of the rift to simply climb down it and continue along the Crabwalk. From there, it was just a matter of retracing our steps, up the ladder we’d left at Garland’s Pot, and then back out of the cave. We emerged at just under the three-hour mark, seven hours before the 6 pm exit time that I’d promised my wife (a lesson learned from last time).
To us amateurs, this trip felt like ‘proper caving’, but to a seasoned caver, this is probably the equivalent of going to Benidorm and calling yourself well-travelled (oh well). We will definitely do this trip again as soon as I manage to track down one of those fancy caving ladders. Hungry for more, we’ll be back in the Peaks in a few months for the group's now-quarterly poker and caving events. Our next cave to conquer has already been decided…
^After Photo. Toby’s grey jumper now brown.
Huge shoutout to Jon and Luke for guiding us; without them, we would have ended up in the Chamber of Horrors, thinking it was the Windpipe. And yes, those helmets came in handy too.