Wretched Rabbit / Lancaster Hole - 18 Jan 2009

Sunday January 18th 2009

Members present: Andrew Vick,  Ben Scothern,  Catherine Moody,  Chuck Holder,  Imogen Shepherd,  Kevin Francis,  Mark Sims,  Max Spicer

This trip started efficiently with me forgetting to photocopy the descriptions the night before and therefore to run up the road to fetch them from Imogene leading to a late arrival at the container. This did not matter too much as Andy and Imogene had already arrived and were sorting out gear allowing us to leave at a sensible time of 8:40ish.

On the road and things were looking good until we realised that we had forgotten one of the tackle sacks. Due to not having a key to the container Andy, who was further ahead in mini Debbie, had to turn around and fetch it. This was pleasing to team swift, travelling down in the lovely Katya, as it meant that we should arrive first for breakfast despite having to collect Mark and Kevin from Austwick.

From this point on the trip seemed to be running smoothly until we reached the Land Rover off road track. The phone rang and it appeared that Andy had broken his mini about twelve and a half miles behind and had removed his toolkit in order to fit in his caving gear. This is quite a contrast to what Andy had said the previous evening about a car "being reliable as long as you know how to fix it". In all fairness to Andy, he did know how to fix it and after we had delivered him a can of WD40 all was well. The only real result of this little hold up was that after collecting Mark and Kevin team mini had arrived first and were happily tucking into their breakfasts.

After breakfast it was onto a chilly change outside Bull Pot Farm and a pleasant walk up to Lancaster Hole. Mark and Cat left first to rig the entrance pitch and the rest of us followed in quick succession. On arrival Mark was just heading down and Cat graciously allowed me to head down second. Once down we had the usual which light is best conversation (coming to the conclusion of the StenLight/dive light combo) before heading into Slug World to look at the pretty formations and to save us getting cold while the others were descending. Mark's camera was put to good use here as well as during the rest of the trip.

The way on was through the boulders on the right into Kath's Way. Once we reached Fall Pot a little bit of confusion set in. Due to rope rub issues we couldn't decide which set of hangers would be the most suitable for the pull through. In the end I rigged the middle route down and everyone else followed, leaving only Mark to derig and descend on a pull through. This seemed to be going to plan until the rope got stuck while Mark was trying to pull it down. Disaster was easily overcome here with Mark ascending part way up the fixed rope to resolve the problem (Mark, perhaps you could elaborate on this.). By the time the rope had been packed we had all made our way up the slippery climb and had entered Montague East Passage.

Progress to Bob's Boss was rapid, slowing as we admired the many formations and grinding to a halt while we gazed in wonder at the beauty of the Painter's Palette. The traverse around Scylla and Charybdis was exciting and also encouraging as it proved we were on track.

Cutting a few steps out, we soon descended the fixed ladder into Stop Pot. From here the way on was a matter of some discussion and the required passage was finally discovered by Andy. A passage on the right part way down the boulder slope led slightly right before branching left leading to a crawl over a large flat boulder with an awkward drop on the other side. From here we dropped down and headed upstream to a rift on the right. This led to climb up some waterfalls and onto the fixed rope climbs out of Wretched Rabbit. These climbs were made much easier by a nice thick rope that had been added since my last visit.

On exiting it was cold and windy and six of us headed back to the car while the other two (I thinking Mark and Kevin?) headed off in the other direction, with some navigation advice from another caving group that followed us out, to derig Lancaster Hole. We all arrived back at the car for a fresh but dry change that was ended with a welcome cup of hot Ribena provided of Cat and some Chocolate Eclairs thanks to Ben while sitting in front of the heater.

The trip was excellent fun, with a couple of us having done it before having frequent flashbacks confirming that we were heading the correct way. It was also enjoyable going as a group of eight as we were able to swap around a bit and take turns to lead. Also looking back and seeing a line of cavers descending places like Steak Pot makes fore some excellent photos and really helps the atmosphere. I really love Ease Gill as the trips are so varied and so well decorated and I'm looking forward to heading back during the Bull Pot Farm weekend.