DRAENAN ENTRANCE IV – A NEW HOPE
Part One - “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny,
consume you it will”
A long time ago in a cave passage far, far away…
A group of cavers
including Keith and Jess
endeavored to reach a beautifully decorated chamber
in the far reaches of Ogof Draenan…The trip entailed light years of
stumbling over greasy boulders…millenniae of thrutching, over sticky mud floors…many
tears and groans of agony and vain attempts to use the force…This mission was completed
in no less than 13 HOURS by the intrepid explorers, making it the longest caving trip and
hardest physical feat EVER in the life of poor Jess…
A few lightyears passed…
Lulled into a false sense of security by Mark,
(Who said he found our lack of faith disturbing)
Jess, Mel and Joe agreed to embark on a little “routefinding trip” into Draenan.
Some gentle exploring around the entrance, we thought! Tucking a choc bar and a capri sun
into our suits, we set off. 16 HOURS LATER we emerged into early morning daylight, with
broken bodies, bleeding knees and murder in our hearts. Mark had failed to mention that
the “routefinding” was to the Gerion – pretty much the same trip that Jess had done a few
years before (and sworn never to attempt again). Unprepared as we were, without any
dihydrogen monoxide, we had been reduced to drinking sludgy cave water, and eating some
weird thing made of sugar and peanuts, that Mel had brought back from some foreign
planet, just… to… survive.
So …
you can imagine my trepidation
when, after months of almost no caving at all,
my foray back into this dark world was to be another trip into Draenan…
I HAD A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS…
Part Two - “These are not the entrances you’re looking for”
Jedi masters,
Bartek and Paulina
came up with a plan to find the new entrance,
(Ogof Tarddiad Pwll Du) mentioned in Descent Magazine,
go into the main cave, then go out via the traditional entrance. Maps were consulted and
terrain was surveyed. Teams were chosen and soon we were heading to parts unknown.
“This is the Way” called Mark,
and descended down a steep ravine, through dense vegetation,
only to be met at the cave entrance by those with a GPS and an obvious path.
Once inside, there were crawls – but nothing too terrible, and soon we were in bigger
passage, with conservation tape. Obviously we were in known passage…but just where?
Bartek, Paulina and Dino were in Draenan for the first time, and Loz, Joe and I had been
there only a few times. Out came the surveys, descriptions and compass, but to no avail. But
the force was strong with Mark, and indeed, this WAS the Way. To T Junction, anyway.
Greasy boulders to the left of us, greasy boulders to the right of us, stretching into the
distance. The potential for hours and hours of type 2 fun lay ahead. But all was not lost - An
early call-out had been set, so we could head out of the original entrance with heads held
high. The mission had been accomplished!
Draenan Entrance IV – A New Hope
CREDITS
Directed by Paulina and Bartek
Written by Jess
Locations Mark
Associate producer Dino
Soundtrack Loz
Archive material Joe
Photography Mark and Bartek
Starring Paulina, Jess, Dino, Loz, Joe
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