204 - 'Lead 03-75A'
Richard Mundy
My caving gear still wet & cold, we set off to the 'Wot no Butcombe'
end of the 'Rhino Rift' area of 204. We rigged pitch 03-79A; a phreatic
pitch wead [sic] tackled nicely with a single backed-up bolt. The
fortuitous bolt placement occured purely by chance.
03-76B leads out from the opposite side of the pitch head, but would
require a handful of bolts to access. Aaron took some time rigging, at
one point succeeding in incorporating his chest tape into the rig
accidentally. We descended the pitch, now named 'Hollow Sausage.' It is
phreatic in character, with a shelf around halfway down before the shaft
balloons out, then contracts again.
At the bottom of this 9m pitch, one finds one's body in a small
widening of a tall, narrow, and windy rift. This had a small stream at
the bottom and had been named "Dover's Last Stand". The crawl to the
pitchhead is likewise rocky.
A boulder choke prevents one travelling far downhill the rift. Uphill
there are fine mud formations on the left wall. A 4m climb leads to a
narrowing of the rift. It gets too tight, but there seems to be a route
above of B/C QM calibre. This is tough and may qualify as being a pitch.
Would be better explored downhill.