6am our adventure began with Liam and Chris to Dublin airport where Ray was already waiting for us. YORKSHIRE DALES here we come, USSCC whoop whoop..
Drive to Dubs went pretty smooth, with one pit stop @ Apple Green đ so boys could be boys and get some grob. Lukas and Liam headed off back to the car to hide pink dildo attached to the bottle of water into Chris's hand luggageđ€« so he would get pulled at security point đ€ Unfortunately, security lady was too professional and didn't pull the dildo out in front of all the strangers to Chris's embarrassment, boooo...đ After an hour we landed safely in Leeds. Pilot did fly that plane like Ray drives an automatic car... it's something you just need to experience to understand đ
At car rental, Chris thought it will be funny to put Ray's new ginger helmet (like his head isn't red enough đ) on the top of high post. Ray refused to go jumping for it ,so Lukas (not much taller đ«ł) went to get it and almost got it stock for goodđ. Way down to the hub was boring (once Ray worked out that there's no gear stick to play with in the automatic)so I fell asleep. Quick stop at Shipton Tesco's. Late afternoon, once unpacked at the hub we decided to go for hot food and then caving. Chris somehow managed to buy another 50m of ropeâż
NOTTS II
After getting ready in Baltic wet conditions at the side of the road, we headed off across the field. Short walk later we were standing over metal cover. Liam opened the lid, revealing 32m man made shaft called Committee Pot. Down climb through scaffolding, loose ladders, blocks and rocks we found ourselves at the bottom to squeeze and climb down some more boulders and rocks. Tah dah ! We've made it to the river bed and we continued to stay in it for next two hours. We were facing strong current of freezing water, going through turns and twists, admiring beautiful underground, big maze with decorated ceiling, many formations, straws and curtains. Just big WOW đ€©!
Chris led the ground for while now , he decided to go for a little free climbing, Ray and Liam followed and so did Lukas. Unfortunately my feet were frozen solid đȘš at this point and I could hardly get out of water (no!it's not because of my big buttđ)So after finding an easier access and getting up on the wall I still struggled to get where the lads were. It was time for me to go back out. Lukas soon admitted that his feet are like ice blocks too. Chris and Ray were left behind to do some exploring while the 3 of us headed back to the shaft to get back out to the surface. My cold feet were so painful that Liam had to take my boots off and try to restore blood flow by punching them đ. We found ourselves quickly back at the shaft, with Chris and Ray shouting right behind us. Fast squeeze into the first parts of the shaft. Cold, tired and hungry we exited NOTTS II into darkness of the night. FULL FILLED is always first word that comes to me when someone asks how does it feel to go caving đ.
Day 2 of USSCC trip.
Plan: Alum Pot-finest abseil in Yorkshire, measurements -55m from the tree, based at the edge of massive crater in the ground. We decided to go for it, fortunately univers was looking out for međ and due to the wet weather our plans had to change đđ€«đ„ł. Sell Gill was wet but safe to explore. Chris rigged first pitch, short abseil to and open roofless room that led us into the cave. Short traverse into second pitch, rigged by Ray. My job was to rig last pitch,so everyone got cold đ At the bottom we found ourselves scrambling down into an amazing huge room. Entering it equalled getting soaked by spraying water from huge waterfall. Water was so loud it made impossible to communicate. Very high ceiling full of cracks and overhanging boulders that would send chill down your spine đ«Ł At the other end of the room, we found another, smaller but just as strong waterfall. At the bottom of it was a lovely passageway with formations from bottom to the top. We could continue down on all fours in the water or climb up 4m on unclimbable wall đ So like children in the playground, Chris gave it a go, then Liam ,then Ray, we just stood and admired the effort lads were putting into this impossible taskđđ After team effort and a bit of rope Ray's gone up to discover that the climb took him down to the crawling bit we tried to avoid hahahahaha.... So with no way forward we decided to turn back. Climbing up pitches was accompanied by Lukas's moaning and Mags's swearing (bloody chest jammerđ€Ź)
Just before last pitch, Chris and I waited for the rest to join. While Chris was lying on the rocks, contemplating existence (maybe) he realized the he's possibly lying at the entrance to another cave. "Tell boys where I went" was the words I heard while getting on the rope, boom! 2 seconds later he was gone looking for a better place (another cave đ) I'm nearly at the top of the pitch when I hear Chris shouting that he found another cave and I might want to see it. So off I went,back down the rope đȘą to a small squeeze to a crawl to find myself standing over a small pitch (maybe climb) it was hard to tell, at this point Liam and Ray were with us. Lukas headed back to the car. Ray went to get rope as we weren't sure where was the bottom. Liam pointed out that it could be pitch after pitch so we decided to turn back leaving Ray and Chris behind.
Soon after we got changed both boys came back safe. We headed back to the hub for well deserved hot tomatoe soup đČ and Chris's delicious vegetarian spaghetti đ carbonara đ€€(I've made it 3 x times within 2 weeks, since back home) Rest of the evening we've spent playing games with beers đ» in hand. Liam pranked me that night with an egg that he had put in to my sleeping bad...you can imagine the mess đł, right?!
Saturday was a final day of caving for Lukas and I after CNCC meeting. They were very welcoming and our club got a privilege to join themđ„ł
Quick lunch at Ingleton (base of Inglesport)with an Alum Pot in plans was quickly turned into very wet but fun Long Churn via Dr. Banister Hand basin. Through river bed out to surface to grab some rope to continue Long Churn into Dolly Tubs 15m abseil.
There it was , spectacular view of a crater, with water sipping through rocks, opposite small waterfall falling down to disappear 55meters below up into Alum Pots entrance. Please do check on Internet đ pictures of this amazing place. It's truly breath-taking đ„č
Speedy Gonzales(Ray) went ahead of everyone, rigging everything in his sight (he tried to rigg an escalator at the airport toođ€Ș) . On the way back back we visited "Cheese press" the most famous squeeze in Dales. At surface, lads decided for one more short cave-WILSON's.
Entertaining set up, you walk across the field into rocky ledge full of cracks to discover that what you walked over was a ceiling of the cave we walked/crawled/swam through. Last 3 meters you're chin deep in freezing water đ„¶ đ. 3rd and last cave to finish this long but fun day
YSS hub had brilliant showers đż (better then mine anyway) hot ,strong flow was a god's sent after long day in cold. đ
After resting, fuelling and chilling was time to pack for home tomorrow. Fun was over but we'll be back, hopefully this summer đ
Hope this read wasn't too long. I wanted to illustrate as best as possible the beauty of Yorkshire clean caves.
THANKS GUYS AGAIN
đ©¶truly amazing experienceđ€đ€
MAGS
