Daren Cilau Through Trip

A repeat of the Daren through trip was high on Anne’s to do list (or at least a visit to the Urchins was) and foolishly I agreed to go with her. The entrance series was as tortuous as ever, particularly as I was carrying a bag this time. However, by cracking on we made reasonably light work of it and the calcite squeezes weren’t nearly as bad as I remember. There was an incredibly tight squeeze towards the end of the crawl which played the xylophone on my rib cage. I was about halfway though and on the verge of becoming stuck when Anne popped her head over and asked why I had gone under rather than over? The answer being that I was so used to putting my head down and squeezing that I hadn’t looked up to see the obvious (and spacious) route over the top. Fortunately I was able to push through and squeeze out the other side, which is just as well as going back would have been very, very difficult.

Once out of the crawl we made quick progress to the first boulder choke, making a quick detour to see the dried out crystal pool towards the end of the old main chamber. This was very impressive and well worth the five minutes it took to view it.

We wriggled through the first choke out into Jigsaw Passage where nice easy caving brought us to Big Chamber Nowhere Near the Entrance. More easy caving down Epocalypse Way took us to the White Company where we stopped to get a couple of photos of these very beautiful formations. Carrying on we managed to mistake the entrance to Urchin Oxbow, do a complete 180 and end up back at the White Company! This was no hardship as they are very beautiful 😊

We did a better job second time around and clambered up the climb into Urchin Oxbow where another couple of photos were in order. Shortly thereafter the long trudge along Antler Passage started. Antler Passage is rather interminable with lots of boulder hopping and regular obstacles to climb up and through, including 4 laddered sections.

Just before one of the climbs we passed a handline coming down from Man in the Roof. This is a route I’d like to go and see at some point, however making the exit using just the handline looks like sheer lunacy. It must be 6 to 7 metres high with just a thin cleft in the face of the rock for footholds. This route may require some planning, and going with someone who has prior experience of it…

We ploughed on and eventually reached the fourth laddered climb (with a very slippery approach!) which took us up into Busman’s Holiday. Thereafter easy caving took us through Prices’ Prophecy to the exit via Cnwc. While Cnwc is tight and crawly it is nothing in comparison to the entrance series and before long we arrived at the gated exit and emerged to a beautiful sunny afternoon.

Total time was 6 hours, which isn’t bad as my first attempt took over 7 hours.

Cavers: Dave & Anne
Trip Report & Photos: Dave