Wretched Rabbit to Easter Grotto -
Cavers – Sooty (I can’t brew enough ale to meet demand) Sutton, Tony (new caring man due to fatherhood) Wells, Tim (won’t anyone else carry this damn rope bag) Hallam and George (I’d rather be walking) Goodfellow.
Surface support: Paul (club hand) Humpreys.
Tim drove Sooty at a rather leisurely pace to the dales.
Sooty said “There’s a gap – overtake now”.
Tim replies “Yes you’re right I could have gone for it”
But they had a good natter on the way up.
Up in Inglesport we all had a good chat about Tony’s new car.
Tony then gave Paul a lift to the Marton Arms and Paul claimed that he could feel the adrenaline flushing through his system!!!
Up at the farm we got changed and Sooty hid Tim’s car key. Thinking it was in Sooty’s underpants he inserted his hand down Sooty’s undersuit and tickled Sooty’s privates and Sooty groaned with pleasure then warmed himself with man seed!!! – or was it that Sooty bucked like mad!!!!
Sooty and Tony walked the wrong way from the farm but Tim pulled them off back.
A nice walk across the moors (Tim carrying the rope bag) saw us at the cave.
Paul waved us off down the cave.
Key for the next bit of the story (Green = George enjoying it, Amber = George unhappy, Red = George in full panic, Pink = George in Shut down mode).
A pleasant rigging of the first drop and abseil, followed by easy climbs down knotted ropes to the hole in the floor.
Climbed down into spiral staircase and crawling. Left turn down tighter passage and drop out from hole in roof.
We then rigged a rope down the drop and had a laugh shock loading Tim’s rope. Tony
and Sooty tested to knotted rope climb up the adjacent pit. Then off down Green and
Smelly passage until we reached the T-
Tony and Sooty went through a very dry (compared to normal) duck whilst Tim and George took the ultra dry bypass. A bit of crawling saw us at Holbeck junction and a stomp up the streamway past lots of nice big formations.
Tony and Sooty went through a very dry (compared to normal) duck whilst Tim and George took the ultra dry bypass. A bit of crawling saw us at Holbeck junction and a stomp up the streamway past lots of nice big formations.
Tony and Sooty stopped randomly for Tim and George to catch up.
“This is the connection to Easter Grotto” Tim pointed out.
What a fluke!!!
An entertaining knotted rope climb soon saw us half way to Easter Grotto.
Then George went on strike 20 foot below Easter Grotto so we left him whilst we enjoyed the best cavern in Easgill.
The climb back down was uneventful apart from when Tony pointed out to Tim that George’s hand jumar (his protection) was a bit too low. Tim told him not to freak George and at that moment George fell and was an inch away from hitting the rocks!!!
After that an uneventful return to the duck where Tony and Sooty eventually got Tim to shrink his privates by immersing them in the cold water.
Then up to the rope climb from the pit at the top of Green and Smelly passage.
Sooty – up easy.
Tony – up easy.
George – made a meal of it then got to top, gave up and pushed backwards! To fall onto protection! Then Tony spent 5 minutes trying to remove the hand jumar whilst George told him how to do it!.
Tim – climbed up OK ish
Then the SRT rope was lowered for George to use and Tony gave an inch by inch narrative leading eventually to Sooty operating George’s jumars for him!
Tony then took George up the Spiral Staircase (no puns please!) whilst Sooty and Tim (with rope bag) followed.
Then George got well and truly wedged in a rift leading to eventual removal of his kit and using the rope bag as a step.
Tim was thinking about cave rescue whilst George was lying in the rift having given up following minimal effort to pass it!
Following that some swearing by Tim at the rope bag but we got out!
Sooty encountered a solid wall at the exit and after a few minutes of crying like a baby because he thought he was lost used his willy to prod a hole thought and get out. Paul wall was rebuilt and George was deeply upset to have to dig his way out.
Great trip!
Tim