Present: Anthony, Duncan, Gwyn
Plan was to do Nettle (deep SRT trip). Too much ale scuppered that plan (some of which I sprinkled over Gwyn’s rucksack in a recycled form in the middle of the night) so Giant’s it was. At least we got the all to prevalent remnants of Maskhill washed off our gear.
So off we went, with a party of my mates from Cambridge hot on our heels (they turned up at the farm 30 secs after us). Got all the way down the crabwalk, across the traverse and down Geology Pot (on string). Below here is a very “sporting” streamway with a couple of awkward wet climbs separated by a duck which readily sumped. Got through these and most of the way to the bottom.
Met Cambridge at the top of Geology Pot, then headed out the round trip route, with a deliberate diversion via Maggin’s Rift (unlike previous day’s trip). Also had a look at the start of the Oxlow connection (which was awful) and through the Giant’s Windpipe. Carried on traversing until the stream was a sensible distance away and dropped into it, a short distance below Garland’s Pot.
At this point we discovered that our rope had moved relative to the waterfall such that they were now mutually juxtaposed. The five-fold increase in water levels didn’t hinder our exit, but it was a bit worrying, especially when Cambridge hadn’t got out an hour later. When they still weren’t out after we’d been out 3, visions of impassable climbs and sumped off ducks in our minds, we returned ready to go look for them. They popped out just as we got to the entrance to check water levels, thus avoiding the utterly unappealing prospect of going caving in sopping wet gear in the middle of the night.
Anthony Day