Vince, Jon, Jake, Nick, Tav, Harley, and Mike
I was keen to see what effects the induced rapid speleogenesis (IRS) had been so arrived at the cave ahead of the others. Quickly underground and reeled in the wires as I progressed towards the Soft South. Down at the bottom of the pot there was some ‘fly-rock’ as expected, and the boulders were reduced although a couple of larger lumps might require further reduction using plugs & feathers. Conglomerate is a difficult rock at times with variable clasts and vughs lined with calcite affecting fracture propagation. There was plenty of stuff to be cleared. Back up the stemples and along to Can of Worms. More ‘fly-rock,’ loose rock and plenty of cracks to exploit, plenty for the digging team to get on with. I returned to the surface.
At the entrance, the team had assembled. Tav and Jake made a beeline towards CoW, Nick headed towards the pot, Mike and Harley on the ledge, Jon at the bottom of the entrance and, after digging last weekend, I was on the surface. Once diggers got settled and things were underway, the rocks and filled bags arrived at a good steady rate with enough gaps in the flow to allow bags to be emptied and rocks to be added to the spoil heap walls. When time allowed, Jon came to the surface to help out with disposal and redistribution of the spoil.
By the end of the session a total of 47 bags had been filled, hauled, and emptied plus an equal or greater number of skip-loads of rock ( I didn’t count!) added to the walls. A productive morning. Reports from the diggers indicate there is work to be done with plugs & feathers at both areas of current interest.
Refreshments were enjoyed, by those that had remembered to bring them, at the cave entrance today as the Hunters’ Lodge Inn was closed for a family occasion.