Juniper Gulf - 18 Feb 2007
Sunday February 18th 2007
Members present: Andy Tricklebank, Charlie Dixon, Dominic Galliano, Ellie Jones, Gary Douthwaite, Jeff Gardner, Matt Hobby, Matt Ewles, Natasha Durham, Simon Herrod, Steve Gilbert
Report by Matt Ewles
Juniper Gulf is best found by following the path from where you park, through gate and then bearing left up the vague path up the slope. This path bears right at the top towards a 'no vehicles' sign (as if that were REALLY necessary!). Continue left along the path, which after a considerable walk, reaches a wall on the left hand side, followed soon by a stile. Climb over and head forwards bearing left (backtracking on yourself slightly, however there is no easy way over the wall prior to this stile). The fenced off enclosure of Nick Pot should be passed, and then Juniper Gulf is reached in a shallow valley.
With the cave already being rigged, we made swift progress, and were pleased to see the dead sheep from last time having gone (although another one had replaced it, though not quite so obstructively!). An easy traverse to the 'bad step' was followed. Steve had rigged the bad step with a single traverse line tight around the left hand side, which allowed you to walk around the outside, with your feet against the wall and you hands gripping to the rope. Last year, it was rigged with a bizarre Y-hang style traverse which was much more tricky!
The next pitch was followed by another traverse, another 'bad step' which involved some scary 'steps of faith' to pass, especially as Steve had rigged this one rather slack, and the fall factor was quite large (at least a couple of meters!). Another exposed traverse, and we reached the big pitch. This is a spectacular open pot in the ground, approximately 4 m wide, and around 45-50 m deep, and is a spectacular free-hanging descent down to the terminal chamber where the water sumps shortly after. A bit of spray at the bottom made me appreciate being there after a couple of rain-free days!
Upwards progress was steady, and Simon H made a superb job of derigging the entire cave. While I was supposed to be helping, all I could really do was pack a bit of a couple of the bags, and take the full bags from him, as the traverses leave little room for two. Dom and Charlie were on the surface quite a while before us and were suitably cold when we arrived up there.
A slight error in retracing our steps lead to us climbing back over the stile, however, departing from the wall too soon. Garys GPS soon corrected us, and for future trips where a return in the dark is likely, a GPS, compass or map is ideal, and VERY careful noting of the route back on the way to the cave is essential.
Overall, some quite scary exposed traverses, which I enjoyed, but it's certainly not for those who don't like that kind of thing. Otherwise a superb sporting trip.
:-)
