After a busy Saturday the Dudley group set off to explore Wet Sink on the Sunday - after the obligatory breakfast and faffing of course!
Knowing that most of the caves in the Forest are small and muddy, and with Brendan trying to scare us with tales of sewage strewn streamways, we really didn't know what to expect from Wet Sink, but we were in for a very pleasant surprise.
Efficiently dropping down the entrance series of ladders and pitches, we soon met the streamway, which was low and sewage-free. We headed upstream, hoping to be able to find our way around the round trip which would bring us back to the stream downstream. A series of sandy crawls and roomy passages, including the impressive Chunnel, showed us that the cave is really very extensive. When we stopped to look at the survey we found that although we had been trotting along at some speed, we had hardly visited any of the 13km cave system.
Brendan and Mark successfully navigated us along the round trip and we popped out above the streamway, which we then followed downstream to the sump. It was hard going, with the floor determined to trip us up and squeeze our feet, but beautifully sculptured rock. Climbing back out of the streamway we made our way under a rather smelly but very picturesque shower inlet back towards the entrance series, and were soon all out in the sunshine.
Well worth a return visit here I think!
Present: Brendan M., Mark B., Jess B., Mel B., Chloe B., Loz A., Matt
Knowing that most of the caves in the Forest are small and muddy, and with Brendan trying to scare us with tales of sewage strewn streamways, we really didn't know what to expect from Wet Sink, but we were in for a very pleasant surprise.
Efficiently dropping down the entrance series of ladders and pitches, we soon met the streamway, which was low and sewage-free. We headed upstream, hoping to be able to find our way around the round trip which would bring us back to the stream downstream. A series of sandy crawls and roomy passages, including the impressive Chunnel, showed us that the cave is really very extensive. When we stopped to look at the survey we found that although we had been trotting along at some speed, we had hardly visited any of the 13km cave system.
Brendan and Mark successfully navigated us along the round trip and we popped out above the streamway, which we then followed downstream to the sump. It was hard going, with the floor determined to trip us up and squeeze our feet, but beautifully sculptured rock. Climbing back out of the streamway we made our way under a rather smelly but very picturesque shower inlet back towards the entrance series, and were soon all out in the sunshine.
Matthew Maylin - The Chunnel - Wet Sink Cave
Chloe, Mel and Jess consulting the survey - The Chunnel - Wet Sink Cave
Loz in the Lower Streamway - Wet Sink Cave
Mel in the Showerbath - Wet Sink Cave
Jess in the Showerbath - Wet Sink Cave
Well worth a return visit here I think!
Present: Brendan M., Mark B., Jess B., Mel B., Chloe B., Loz A., Matt
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