Wednesday 27th June return to Hilliers

This week's trip plan was for a revisit to Waterwheel - a fairly wet cave. Last time I wasn't quite aware of how wet it was going to be and got quite cold without a wetsuit on, and managed to trash my camera. I was preparing to wear my wetsuit on this week's trip and have a swim at the bottom.

Dave sorted out the key, but was made aware that the trip had a limit of 5 people according to the key owners. This complicated things as more than 5 people wanted to go. Tim played diplomat and suggested Steve & I could join him on an alternative trip. We didn't really have any time to organise keys/permits for anywhere else so decided to head back to Fairy Quarry for another Hilliers trip to see if I could remember my way around the cave and to take some photos.

As usual getting there took forever in the rush hour traffic, we got changed quickly though and went off to find the Fairy Cave exit to check it was open. We had decided to enter through Hilliers but exit through Fairy . To begin with we ended up on the wrong side of the cliff trying to find it. We backtracked to the gate and found a small path which lead round to the entrance. The entrance was open, so we headed back to Hilliers to start the trip.

On my way down the slippery slope into the cave I wondered if I'd ever feel good about going down the small drop. It was the 3rd time I had done it, and still didn't enjoy it. There is a hand line but I'm not sure if I'd be able to hang off it for very long if my foot slipped.

I'd bought a new cheapy handheld cree light for lighting photos from Ebay so had that with me. Once through the gravel crawls (which were very wet after the weeks rain) and past the boulder of doom we continued into some of the prettier passage and spent some time messing round with my camera settings and taking photos using the hand held light. I really need to spend a trip down in a cave with my camera just figuring out what settings to use. It had so many options there just isn't time to try them all on a caving trip. After destroying my last camera on a beach trip (sand in lens..) I've only taken this camera underground a few times, and it's not as easy to set up/use as my last one.













We continued through the cave and Tim pointed out the point you head up to go out through Fairy Cave. We continued onwards through the choke/s to Cambridge Grotto. More photos were taken but my hand held light ran out of battery. I'd forgotten to charge if before taking it out so the battery only had the charge it was sold to me with (which probably wasn't very much) I cursed myself for forgetting to charge it.













Spot the long stal in this photo










We got a little bit confused about the way on after this point - there were a few possible holes leading on!, as I made my way through another choke I wasn't sure it was the right way, so it was a relief to pop out into Brenda's chamber. My photos in this chamber weren't too successful - looking back at them we should have had Steve's light on a much lower setting. I think I preferred the ones from the previous week taken on Dave's Tough camera.





We then had a debate as to whether to continue on to the Red Room. The David Lynch fan in me really wanted to go see it. We looked at the survey and reassured ourselves that the distance to it was no further than the last boulder choke we had passed through. Mendip underground (cave guide) uses big capital letters to warn that the choke (suicide passage) it well dodgy, and great case MUST BE TAKEN. Tim had been to the Red Room before, Steve and I hadn't. With that in mind I lead the way through the choke.....

It actually wasn't all that bad - the trip in Eastwater the other week had felt far less safe. The way through the choke was pretty easy - a nice well worn boulder path through with lots of little twists and turns. As we got closer to the cavern the stals and formations were beginning to turn red.. We then had a short climb up into the chamber which was filled with red formations. We had a little explore and took some photos then had to head out as time was ticking on. I was really impressed with the chamber and really didn't want to leave so soon, but the lure of the pub and threat of a call out was looming so it was onwards and outwards. Looking at reports of other trips there I'm not sure if we made it as far as what is described as the 'Red room' in the guide - the photos I've looked at look as if there are more columns that the ones we saw in the chamber we entered. It's a good excuse to go back and have another look when time is less of a factor.







Should have probably turned the light down...







The way back from the 'red room/chamber' was straight forward and went much quicker than the way in. Passing through the squeeze after Brenda's chamber I made the other 2 laugh by trying to go down a small hole instead of through the squeeze (Steve swore blind I'd done exactly the same thing during last weeks trip).
On our way back into Cambridge Grotto Steve and I came out one way through the choke and Tim another way which confused us. Then it was onwards and outwards to the Fairy connection.

Enroute to the connection Steve and I went up through a squeeze and found ourselves in a decorated chamber - this was the same chamber we'd gone into in error on the previous trip too. Back through the squeeze and we were back into the big rifty bit where you have to climb up and head over a slippery muddy drop and into a bedding plane. We took it very carefully as one slip would have sent us down not a very nice drop. Through the pretty bedding plane we shuffled then it was another step over a drop and up to the squeeze. Tim went through first and got to the duck - we were trying to communicate with him and find out if it was doable. The whole cave had been much wetter than last weeks trip and we were worried it would have sumped. Tim said it was passable and went through it. The squeeze was easy, and the duck didn't look as bad as I thought it would. I still didn't want to do it though. I initially said I was going to head back, but then decided to give it a shot. I'm not that bothered by cold water (having swum in snow melt water earlier in the year) but something about sticking myself into the wet pool made my body go into cold shock, I felt like I couldn't breathe and my heart was going 90 to the dozen. I waited for it to stop and had a go at passing through, but I still couldn't get my breath and was worried I would panic mid way through. I came back out and it was decided Tim would head out through Fairy (not wanting to pass back through the nasty duck) and we would head back out through Hilliers. We agreed to meet by the gate and if we weren't out within the hour to look for each other. It wasn't the best situation, and probably an indicator as to why it's better to have 4 on a trip.

I was pretty cold after my submersion so we hurried our way through the bedding plane to the muddy bit over the drop. I took it very slowly as was worried in my state of cold I might not concentrate fully. Once over both drops we made quick progress out of the cave and were soon out. We were relieved to see Tim at the cave exit -having come out through Fairy five minutes earlier he'd wandered over to us. He'd had a little navigational wobble coming out of Fairy but had made it out without any further hitches. It was good to be out in the warm air of the quarry. The whole place felt quite eerily silent and Tim said it had felt a little creepy coming out on his own through the wooded section by Fairy Cave.

We got back to the car about 10.45, and agreed we were too late for the pub. So it was back to Bristol for oven chips, beer and rum..