204 - 204D
Becka Lawson
Fettled the entrance to 204D (as well as cairning the route there from 204B). Put in 204D tag.
[sketch to scan]
Down 204D, up ladder + looked at QMs at the top of ladder. The hading rift on LHS went up q.a way as a freeclimb, drippy, some not too exciting ways on. To the right just looked boulder choked. The solution tube on the LHS above Suspended Solutions was boulder filled after ~5m. Down past Suspended Solutions + Earl put in a bolt on LHS wall above first section of boulder slope (~4m above the floor of Swings + Roundabouts main passage) + I belayed him as he traversed around the rock (after hammering off the worst choss, of which there was a lot). He ducked through under a boulder to get to a smallish aven, with a QM up a 3-4m climb + short slope on RHS leading to a solution tube leading steeply down, not drafting, would need rigging. Tube also went up but got small. Derigged the traverse + back to the entrance rope. Earl + Mick climbed up in the small chamber between the entrance rope chamber + the big main chamber with the ladder. Freeclimb led to large aven above + hole down into the big main chamber. Two dodgy climbs possible off this. I Squeezed past a boulder at floor level in [arrow points back to above-mentioned small chamber]. This same chamber which led to a crawl + then a body-sized tube off to the left which opened out into a small drippy aven. Obviously tempting fate to say so, but I think Earl + I have now looked at all the promising leads of the 12B series (Playground, Swings + Roundabouts, Suspended Solutions to the 204D entrance) except a bunch of pitches. The pitch off to the left of the chamber after Playground is _very_ large, not especially deep + would be nice to rig, probably the best of the lot, with the next best being up the walking passage/phreatic off first right as you enter Swings + Roundabouts (by the small boulder slope). Out, then Mick + I hacked down the hill to have a look at some of the series of huge, collapsed shake-holes at the bottom of the plateau. Not v. much that looked too good - not surprising given everything is so shattered? Area around 204D seems more promising. On our way back up we found another cave, only about ~50m from yesterday's GNDN cave, continuing in ~same direction from 204D. In horizontal crawling entrance which drafted, down q. steeply sloping walking passage. Daylight from left + tube up on right filled with rocks. Dropped into chamber with loose boulder floor. Possible way on, squeezing over rocks. Definitely worth another look and, as at GNDN cave, we seem to have lost the draft somewhere.