Daren Cilau to Cnwc Through Trip

Wanting to cement the route finding for the Daren to Cnwc through trip, Jess, Loz , and I headed in to a very wet Darren crawl for our 5 1/2 hr Sunday trip.

 

Water levels were somewhat higher than I had experienced before and ensured we kept a steady pace to combat against the cold as we made our way in. 

We were soon through the first obstacle, my favourite,  ‘The Vice’, Jess found this so roomy this time around she even tried to thrutch through with a kit bag attached to her belt!

After an hour of crawling and slithering through S-Bends and Stal Squeezes filled with pools of ice cold water we finally reached the end of the crawl and made our way through The Cascade breakthrough choke to Jigsaw passage.

Onward through The Wriggle we were soon at ‘Big Chamber Nowhere Near The Entrance.’ As we were doing well for time we back tracked to mud traverses in Surveyors Passage to have a poke around before continuing on to Epocalypse Passage and The White Company, past The Kitchen, where the water was looking rather brown and muddy, and through the connection to Antler passage where Loz’s skinny butt managed to squeeze down the hole before the climb down.  After proving my butt would not fit through I opted to climb down.

We then took a quick detour to show Loz the stunning Urchin Oxbow before stopping for a drink and chocolate bar at the Antlers formation.

Re-charged we headed out through Antler passage’s numerous climbs and ladders to Busmans Holiday, Prices Prophecy and out through Cnwc in to a snow filled afternoon. 

Navigating the slippery snow covered muddy path proved some fun and we were all glad to get changed and warm.

Stopping off for a well deserved meal on the way back Jess and Loz compared war wounds in the shape of the numerous leopard print like bruises covering their arms and legs, though Loz probably won the competition with nasty swelling and bruising to her finger resulting in an A&E trip on the Monday!

Mark Approaching The Tighter Section of The Vice

Jess admiring the Antlers formation

Jess in Urchin Oxbow

Present: Laura (Loz) Appleby, Jess Burkey & Mark Burkey
(Photo's from our previous trips)