Underground...

Did something completely different today. I'm quite up for new experiences, even if they turn out to be things that I'd rather not repeat! Today was a good example of taking such an opportunity, after being asked to help out with a group in the Brasgyll Valley Caves, above St Aseph.

Wriggling through a small, muddy hole in the ground is not really my cup of tea any more, but it was an interesting place and as it was on a private estate, it's not somewhere I'd ever be likely to get the chance to go to otherwise. Before I had chance to protest, I was decked out in borrowed clothes, wellies, helmet and headlamp and was marching off through a forest down to a river valley. 

The cave entrance was small to say the least and required us to squirm in on out bellies, keeping our heads facing sideways so that the helmets wouldn't get stuck. Once past the leaf litter and spooky spiders, the passage widened to where we could re-group and take a look around. Above our heads (about 10cm above us) were four 'Horseshoe Bats' clinging to the ceiling by their tiny feet.

The cave had various entrances and exits and during the course of the day we explored most of the cave system. The smallest squeeze involved lying in (and shuffling through) a passage that was less wide than my size 8 wellies: I had to twist onto my side to fit through. Progress was slow.

A 9m vertical pitch at the end of a tight 'corkscrew' shape passage was the crux of the day. Getting down it (in a waterfall) was tricky and wet, but getting back up again later was even more problematic. This involved climbing an electron ladder up through the waterfall then moving like a distressed seal pup, up the smooth sided 'corkscrew' desperately trying to gain some purchase off the walls to help with some forward motion. 

Eventually, the sweet sight of daylight was located and we burst out into the fresh air all claiming that it was nowhere near as hard as it felt and that no one was really scared by all the spiders (much)...