Solo
The plan was to break-up some large boulders left to one side underneath the pissing tree. The northside of the hill was blanketed in thick fog, however, gaining height onto the plateau the sun was shining and it was a pleasant drive over to the southside, still in sunshine. Got to the farm, changed, and wandered up to Hallowe’en Rift. At the cave got distracted by a pile of rocks and set about wall building and tidying stuff. Eventually, looked at the watch and thought it was time to get underground and put the initial plan into action.
The dripping water throughout the cave was noticeable and there were plenty of puddles along the way. The NE passage (Soft South) was sticky and slippery. Up in the elevated section spent some time levelling the floor to enable better movement of the skip (filled the hole in the floor). Got the plugs and feathers out to remove a jutting ‘nose’ of rock and then started on the large boulder at the end. This boulder, comprised of conglomerate, thick calcite, and mineralized rock, proved to be obstinate and took longer to deal with than anticipated. It did finally succumb. The loose cobble- and small boulder-size lumps were stashed on one side and the smaller fragments bagged up ready for removal at the weekend. Job done!
