Dudley Caving Club: Bags and bags of fun in OFD

Sunday dawned and the realization that we were committed to going back to Splash Inlet and Marble Showers seemed a little less exciting, especially as we had been unable to coerce anyone to join us, we were taking even more camera kit in with us, and we were all tired and sore from our exertions the day before.

However, we made good time and soon were heading up the Skyhook pitch again. Taking the rope, SRT kits and bag of camera stuff with us, we again struggled through the tight rifty and crawly bits to make our way again to Splash Inlet and the passages beyond.

Taking a short detour to show Mark the crystals from the day before, we went to take some photos in a nicely decorated dry passage before heading to the much wetter Marble Showers. But alas! The water conditions were much lower than the day before, and where there had been a myriad of waterfalls and a good height to the stream itself on the Saturday, there was much less water flowing on the Sunday and it was far less spectacular. Mark and Brendan somehow still managed to make sure we were all completely soaked by the time they’d finished taking photos!

Heading back to the pitches we stopped for one more ‘quick’ photo and then we began our return journey. Once the second pitch had been derigged, we had 2 camera boxes, one large tackle bag, one smaller bag of camera equipment and 3 SRT kits to take through the awkward passages that we had struggled through earlier. Bags and bags of fun!

Once down the Skyhook pitch we made our slow and weary way back to the entrance, feeling tired but triumphant. This is a trip that is definitely worth a revisit (hopefully with more ‘mules’!) and would even make a great SRT exchange if there was a big enough group.