Topic

A small turn out for the caving this weekend.
We packed ropes for all bar the last pitch in Cup Cake. I was not sure that I would fit all the way and did not want to commit to a pull-through and Bernice was not keen on an overly long trip.
I had been to the cave before, so we found the entrance with no trouble and descended the shored shaft to the cup cake.
This was immediately followed by the second pitch which lead into a very muddy chamber. This has some good straws, some with pom-poms, in a gallery off to the right.
The way on is round to the left with a daunting climb down some boulders. This is easier than it looks!
It is followed fairy quickly by Mud Pitch, I can't help feeling that there is some clue as to the nature of the cave in that name.
A little way further on, we sent Oggy up Limbo Pitch to rig a rope for the rest of us.
This lead into a well decorated traverse and then stoop/crawl to Slither Aven. This already had a rope on it, attached with alloy karabinas which were showing signs of corrosion.
I parallel rigged the pitch and we were soon looking for the way on at the bottom. The words said it was not the climb down and the traverse over lead to a big drop. We found the way was an unlikely looking squeeze at mid height with an in-situ sling to help you balance.
Paul's light gave up before he had a go at this manoeuvre, so he retreated to the bottom of Slither Aven with his spare light.
The way on was now a series of climbs and squeezes, one of which was too tight for me, Bernice had also had enough at this point, so we turned round leaving Oggy to have a look ahead and report back.
From his description, I think he got to Bendall's Dilemma and a chamber beyond, apparently with 4 ropes leading upwards before turning round.
The return to the surface was fairly quick, unlike the rope washing when we got back to the hut. Everything was plastered with mud, even if it hadn't come out of the bag!

Team: Bernice, Oggy, Paul & Dave.
Time: About 4 hours
Rope Washing Time: About 1 hour.