161 - Pushing Leads off Trifurcation
Nick Proctor
(or Silly Bastards go caving in the rain) The caving was lovely, the walk in (55mins) and the walk out (45mins) were done in the pissing rain. Had we set of ½hr later it would have started raining before we left Top Camp and we could have happily jacked. Having slogged up to the col, however, we could only go onwards and upwards.
Nick's caving bit: Continued down 95-55. Added another rope protector (making 3!) to the first pitch, bolted the 6m pitch (lovely Y-hang). A further 10m pitch through the floor (getting narrower - I love rift pitch series!) required another Y-hang and a deviation (no decent naturals when required hence my fifth bolt of the day). At the bottom of this pitch is yet another one, of about 20m, in a much wider shaft, with the sound of water coming from it. More to follow...
There is a continuation of the rift at the top of this pitch series, which is responsible for the draught (there is no draught down the pitches). This can only be reached by a very airy traverse - a job for the drill.