204 - 204B to 204D!
Becka Lawson
Back to where had finished off yesterday. Continued the survey from the boulder pile up the solution tube ("Suspended Solutions") + rigged a ladder off a natural down into the passage below. Noticed a moth in the chamber - hmm. It turned out to be a 11m x 11m massive chamber, very alternative, huge q.low angled roof slab and boulder floor with a river bed of dry mud running through it. Earl + I squabbled over who got to go first. One main way out - and a pile of snow + ice. Hmm. Then Earl ducked under another low roof ridge - and saw daylight... slightly disappointed the passage had ended but a new entrance was the next best thing. Chimneyed up about 6m + there were several places with light chinking through boulders but nowhere big eough to get out . Earl put a bolt in from a ledge then hung off it as he hammered away at the boulders. After some considerable gardening (hard to stop Mr. Merson when he gets going so I just cowered) he could squeeze out + then had a better angle of attack to kick down yet more choss. Put a rope on to protect the freeclimb + surveyed out. The snow plug was rotten + q.hard to climb out of + the rock above chossy. Got out to a fine + novel view of the plateau + tried to decide which way was home. I persuaded Earl to surface survey back to 204D. Fortunately not too hot but it took some time + by about halfway I'd regretted pushing Earl to survey but by then he wasn't letting me duck out of it so we slogged on with me getting increasingly terse and grumpy. Eventually Mick heard us + found us another survey station (2001/03?) to survey to. Then Earl was a hero + went back down the 3 pitches of 204D to fish out my SRT gear.