Homecoming - Finally
Adam
We woke up late that day, the previous night having us only go to bed at 2:30am. As such, we only managed to get to Homecoming at about 1pm. We parted ways with Liam shortly after descending the first steep hill on the way to the Homecoming entrance, giving him my Mesh as he was going to be prospecting with Becka.
It was a very hot day, getting dressed at the Homecoming entrance being an exhausting affair in itself, feeling very much like a jacket potato. I could feel myself sweating underneath all my layers as I packed my bags for the trip. The derigging would only be attempted the next day, so as far as I was aware this was our last chance for the Brandywine.
We entered the cave at 2:15pm and as I stepped into the cold of the cave, it was not the refreshing experience it was in trips prior. Instead, it made me feel very aware of my sweat, making me feel clammy and chilly all over. A wholly unpleasant sensation.
Fiona and I went down the regular route, as we had done the day before. We both shared our distaste for this route, missing the straightforward pitches of Welsh Engineering. We rejoiced that this would be the last time we'd be in this entrance route this expedition. We came to the junction and picked up the rope we'd left last time, though left the food. After having some last time, I became worried that it was food that was left for the derigging team that we'd unknowingly gorged ourselves on (it wasn't, thank the gods). We swiftly headed to Rivendell to get down to Urinal Rock. Whilst still louder than the first time we'd come to the cave, it was far less so than the day before, which set my mind very much at ease.
Fiona descended to me and marked the point for the first survey station, descending further to then mark the second station. After this, I made the measurements and was prepared to read them out to her. However, the pencil didn't work. I hadn't used SexyTopo before for this and I didn't really want to spend any time learning whilst actually in the cave (I should have practised whilst using the app to calibrate the disto I'd been given before coming up, oh well!), so I just used a notepad app on my phone. It was in a nice waterproof case (well, not so nice. It was partially broken) that hung around my neck so the only problem was when I misclicked and it thought I wanted to voice activate something. So this time, I was book and dog while Fiona was instrument. For the section we'd already bolted, I made the dumb decision not to put on my jacket. I'd put on my balaclava, but I was still getting quite cold.
When we reached the end of what we'd done, I unpacked my tackle sack and Fiona started rigging a Y-hang while I finally put on my jacket. The "chamber" we'd collectively remembered at the end of our rift wasn't much of a chamber at all. It was more of a widening of the rift, this time with a nice floor to stand on before it continued being a narrow rift. The pitch wasn't even as deep as we'd remembered. We didn't even need any of the rope we'd brought! We just continued the rope from our traverse.
The rift went on until it became evident that bolts would be needed; the bits by my feet that would be nice to stand on didn't look, well... nice to stand on. They appeared to be quite fragile, especially under the full weight of a me. It wasn't worth it to risk it, so we ended the surveying there. We wanted to get out fairly early, so we were basically on our turnaround time anyway. Fiona stayed behind to derig all we'd done up to Urinal Rock (which we'd leave for the Welsh Engineering derig team) whilst I'd go up to Rivendell and derig the traverse in from the regular entrance route. At this point we discovered that she'd left her pantin at the top of the cave, so I lent her mine. I'd ascended Welsh Engineering once before without one, so I knew it was within bounds to do so again. Given the wide nature of the Rivendell traverse, it was a tad nerve wracking. As I ascended the rest, to my mind occupied I started playing the St Trinians movie in my head. The Eye of Sauron was exhausting and I remember getting to the top and just sitting, having a big ol' snack break. This time I'd packed some vegan cola bottles. In the cold they were very chewy, making the snack break half an effort in itself. On the further pitches, I took further breaks to sing some Cavetown.
We reached the top at 8:45, finally having surveyed Brandywine Overpass! I emerged to see amazing clouds in the sky, crowning the mountains that marked the col, tinted a beautiful red by the evening sun. A wonderful end to a trip!