RRCPC Newsletter
Volume 33 Number 2 Article
6
August 1996
White Scar Meet
Sunday 7th July 1996
Well everybody had an early night at the farm - 2:30ish, mind you they still needed waking at 9am for this unusually early (for the RRCPC) trip. Members started arranging breakfast but some of us decided that Pete Hall had eaten enough for all, so we headed straight for White Scar!
A decent turn out at the caves: Pete Grant, Pete Hall, Ray Duffy, Dave Edland, Youth, Carmel, Jane Chilton, Tim, Lee York, Mel Wilkinson & Bill Hobson, who waited for Beardy & Pacey (who had gone to sample the delights of Fountains).
Four members of the Earby turned up to visit the dig and produced two of the largest trouser snakes you have ever seen. Carmel could wait no longer so we set off into the show cave without the breakfast monsters. Ray was suitably escorted through the tourist part as we did not want a return of Dan yr Ogof!
The trouser snakes turned out to be two 100 ft, 3 inch dia. flexible hoses to ventilate the dig. The Earby team thanked us for the assistance given to get these to Carrot Hall and John Southworth offered his services as a guide to the Sleepwalker Series on our next trip. Pete and Youth found them useful as flotation aids to cross Long Stop Lake while the rest of us just had fun falling off the traverse ledges and getting a thorough soaking.
Once through Big Bertha by various routes, Pete and Youth set off up Moonmilk inlet to examine the dig at the end. Ray decided to take some photo's at which point Beardy and Pacey turned up, Beardie climbed up onto some ledges to point the flashgun and Ray had me standing in cold water at that crucial depth as a model, UGH! As we came to move on it was discovered that what goes up does not necessarily come down and Beardie required some assistance to extricate himself from his high point, unfortunately Ray had put the camera away.
We all had a pleasant wade (for those in wetsuits) or traverse (furry brigade) up the stream cave. At the great rift a look was taken at the dig and various inlets examined, there is as decent draught around here and Pacey and Dave kept looking up the rift and muttering that it was probably an easy climb? Pacey had a look at Gem Inlet but decided the final leap above the chamber was a bit too necky, Beardie had a look at a sandy passage on the right between the duck and Sump 1, it appeared to go further than the survey and should be easy digging. On the way out some of the team had a quick look up sleepwalker.
Ray, Tim. Mel and myself surveyed Downstream form Carrot Hall and discovered that four legs appeared to have been missed off the original survey which moves everything about a bit!!! Pete helped John Southworth put some bolts on a climb up to an inlet above the streamway and then we all swam out. All in all everyone had an enjoyable time and were very impressed by the size of the passages, several promising sites were noted for next time and Ray took some good photos.
Pete Grant