Monday 17 March 2014

"Did I Mention I've got lurgy?"

15/03/2014 - The Psychotronic Strangeways, Daren Cilau, with Tom and Emma

I'm lying on the sofa feeling quite broken typing this on Sunday evening. I guess that's what happens if you go caving in Daren Cilau when you aren't very well (actually I think that's what happens when you go caving in Daren even when you are well). The thing is, trips to Borrowed Boots Streamway and the Psychotronic Strangeways don't seem to happen that often and we'd been planning this one for months, so I thought I'd soldier on. Plus it was my birthday the day before. Anyway, that's enough whingeing for now. I'm sure I'll mention my man-flu again later, but stop me if I keep going on about it.
The finest birthday cake a caver could wish for.

Monday 10 March 2014

Another trip down Titan

It's good to do Titan now and then to remind myself of how scary big pitches are. This time I had also claimed that I might be able to find my way through to Peak Cavern. The others on the trip (Kathryn, Matt and Sophie) didn't know the route so the potential was there for a bit of a stressful day!

The first challenge was finding Titan. Thick fog at the top of Cave Dale had reduced visibility somewhat, and finding a small manhole cover in one of the nondescript fields was going to be tricky. Luckily, a team was heading in ahead of us to go digging (they were also doing the rigging and derigging, which was useful) and I spotted them on the surface just as they were about to drop down the entrance shaft - great timing!

Unlike my last trip here, I was the first from our group down, which meant no waiting around at the top of Titan. This reduced the buttock-clenching terror I usually associate with big pitches to merely hair-raising discomfort. Titan swiftly dispatched, I settled myself at the bottom to wait for the others, and watched as pin pricks of light became visible on the Event Horizon and torch beams swivelled around the shaft as Sophie, then Matt, then Kathryn slid down the rope to join me.