Otter Hole - 24 May 2008

Saturday May 24th 2008

Members present: Andy Tricklebank,  Imogen Shepherd,  Kevin Francis,  Nicola Gover,  Richard Gover

Otter hole is fantastic. Pretty walk through woodland by the wye to get to it, then the first part is very very muddy and a bit tight and awkward in places (more of a problem on the way back when its slightly uphill), then after about half an hour you reach the sump. Lots of wierd booming and slurping noises as you get nearer, then sounds like a drain emptying.

We sat for about 20 mins as it opened up, then as soon as the arch opened enough rich went through and the rest followed. Not that cold, and you can stand on the bottom all the way through (you can get through earlier if you use the eyehole but you have to swim and it usually drops too much to reach by the 3rd/4th person then the rest have to wait for the arch and people get cold).

Through the sump theres some more very muddy wet bits til you reach the rescue dump where we left our supply of food (in case we got stuck). Then theres lots of squeezy, climby, twisty bits (the mendipian way) and then it gradually gets larger and pretty things start to appear.

More and more pretty things then start to appear, really big stalagtites/curtains and huge mounds of stalagmites, mostly pristine white, and plenty of straws. Then you get to the hall of the thirty. Completely full of giant mounds (some twice my height or more). Very impressive (but hard to photograph). The guide then said did we want to go (quickly) on to more pretty stuff? Apparently 90% of groups stop at hall of thirty, but we had plenty of time. Lots more pretties on the way, including the black stal. This is contaminated with arsenic and smelled of diesel (they reckon there was a garage above that leaked) and must not be touched! quite creepy. Then we went across a really pretty crystal pool (carefully!) and reached long straw chamber where there were indeed several very long straws (a few metres at least) in a big wall of pretty whiteness. Went slightly past this to take a group photo, then we headed out fairly quickly so as not to miss the sump. Got to the sump with an hour to spare and walked through in knee deep water :-). Then we had a feast of swiss roll and malt loaf and headed out.

Quite a tiring trip, we were all a bit broken the next day! Well worth it though.

Photos to the website soon i promise! For now:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97585&l=074e8&id=222302325