the butlins night shift
Edvin Deadman
Underground at 3.30pm for 1st day of 3-day camping trip. Down to camp at 6.30pmish for a quick cuppa. Then met Nial, Jess and Djuke who's lead was still going - the hole in the floor near Dead Good Bat chamber. Continued drill bolting down a series of cold and drippy cascades. Finished of the original 100m bag of rope, then started on another. Left the lead still going, at the top of another pitch, by which time we were very cold. Headed to camp round 5am and having been up for 23hrs got to bed at 7am for a well earned rest and toasty warm "nights"sleep.
Slept will from 7am till 5pm, as we'd been very tired. Decided on a day out in the wares to look at some tantalising QMs:
- 2007-204-71A: choked after about 15m
- 2007-204-55A: choked after about 10m!
- 2007-204-57C: went until we found another survey station in a sandy tube. Turns out this is a connection into Hippocratic Oath.
- 2007-204-56B: ended in a small aven after 5m
- 2004-204-40C: died instantly
- 2004-204-47C: died instantly
Finally some that went:
- 2007-204-62A: led, past nice mud, to a sloping chamber. Above, a ramp up led to a pitch down. Almighty freezing draft coming up. 18 rope wasn't enough to get to the bottom. This seems like a good place to look for Tunnocks, given the draft.
- 2005-204-75A: steeply sloping bedding plane, with 2m deep stream canyon, - it went! Led down to a sand floored passage which eventually led back to the stream which then choked as it descended into mud. Left a QM up chossy climb.
Back to camp for 5am, where we attempted, and failed, to sleep until 6pm.
Final day of the camp saw us back at yesterdays QM, to put a rope on the climb. Two ways - both eventually choked, but not before we'd got about 180m of survey for a new ware: warefor art thou Tunnocks!
Finally at midnight, we started prussiking out, reaching the surface at 3.30am. I'd like to write something romantic about gazing at the moon and stars after 60hrs TU. Instead we dug a hole in a grike and buried 18 person-days worth of shit in it.