204 -> 161, leads near Runnel Stone
Mon 20 Aug 2012
Anthony
It was my turn to keep Becka company on a trip into 161. Since we had decided we were going to tick off horizontal leads we had no drills or other gear to carry, so zipped down to the Runnel Stone in 3 hrs flat. We then proceeded to work back along the passage ticking off leads as we went.
First stop was an A lead on the south side of the passage. This led almost immediately to a steep slope down covered in sand that leads back into Runnel Stone chamber with a pitch immediately beyond. I had an entertaining time slithering up and down this.
Next, we proved that the adjacent B lead connected to the obvious C lead round the corner before heading to the next B lead that went somewhere, a draughting passage heading uphill to the north. We quickly reached a junction where most of the draught was coming from the right, which quickly led to a pitch presumed to go back into Runnel Stone chamber. The warmer branch headed north for a while, past a small inlet with specks of mud on the wall (hence "Polka Dot Passage") ending at a pitch that the survey places close to the end of Julian and Becka's find from the previous day.
Back in the main passage, we established that a couple of B leads connected to each other before hitting on the next A lead, a substantial draughting passage heading south. This looked most promising, and so it proved. We quickly reached a junction and threw a few legs up the north-going passage which looked as though it was heading back to the main passage (this was confirmed the following day). Then we happily stomped off south in big draughting phreas - the "Lärchen Republic" - past some very nice crystals (of gypsum??). Eventually the phreas turned into a rift where the draught got weaker, which we presumed was because it was going up into the roof. We weren't in the mood for climbing and time was getting on, so we headed out.
Anthony
T/U: 12hrs
It was my turn to keep Becka company on a trip into 161. Since we had decided we were going to tick off horizontal leads we had no drills or other gear to carry, so zipped down to the Runnel Stone in 3 hrs flat. We then proceeded to work back along the passage ticking off leads as we went.
First stop was an A lead on the south side of the passage. This led almost immediately to a steep slope down covered in sand that leads back into Runnel Stone chamber with a pitch immediately beyond. I had an entertaining time slithering up and down this.
Next, we proved that the adjacent B lead connected to the obvious C lead round the corner before heading to the next B lead that went somewhere, a draughting passage heading uphill to the north. We quickly reached a junction where most of the draught was coming from the right, which quickly led to a pitch presumed to go back into Runnel Stone chamber. The warmer branch headed north for a while, past a small inlet with specks of mud on the wall (hence "Polka Dot Passage") ending at a pitch that the survey places close to the end of Julian and Becka's find from the previous day.
Back in the main passage, we established that a couple of B leads connected to each other before hitting on the next A lead, a substantial draughting passage heading south. This looked most promising, and so it proved. We quickly reached a junction and threw a few legs up the north-going passage which looked as though it was heading back to the main passage (this was confirmed the following day). Then we happily stomped off south in big draughting phreas - the "Lärchen Republic" - past some very nice crystals (of gypsum??). Eventually the phreas turned into a rift where the draught got weaker, which we presumed was because it was going up into the roof. We weren't in the mood for climbing and time was getting on, so we headed out.