With Jake, Nick and Tav. First digging trip of the new year.
A grey, damp start to the day and following some heavy rain during the night we were not expecting the cave to be any drier, we were not surprised to find it getting back to it’s squalid best; although the digging at the end is fine. Jake and Tav were on digging duties today and, after replacing the old skips at the end with the new ones I had made up earlier in the week, bags were duly filled. I was in the pot and Nick took the shuttle duties while we were waiting for the filled bags to come from the end Nick and I set about shifting the rocks stacked in the pot. There was now a constant trickle of water running into the pot and there was plenty of mud splatter coming off the haul ropes although I did manage to keep it out of my eyes, mostly. Good to hear from the end that there had been no further collapse and that forward progress was possible. 30+ bags filled and shifted to the entrance plus the rocks that were in the pot meant that there was a considerable pile of spoil to get out of the cave, and quite an awkward clamber up the bag pile to get to the surface. Cave cleared it was time to head off to the pub, the obligatory body sliding in the field left some fine brown skid marks.
