+Russell and I packed rope, a drill and 25 hangers, bolts and maillons (no plans to run out again!) After a cold but relatively efficient morning we all got underground about 11:30, starting off with Ash and Buck to show them the way through the cave to our furthest point. The journey through the cave was uneventful, and it was fun to show Ash beyond Staircase 36 after he’d done so much of the research beforehand. My rebolting of Strange Upfall was enjoyed by no one, but also lacked in any suggestions for how to actually improve the awkward pitch head (which is best done by using the Y hang like a ladder to get onto the traverse). We eventually returned to our previous point at the start of the Three Wise Men traverse and said goodbye to Ash and Buck as they headed off to look at leads in No Country for Old Men. +
+This was my first look at the traverse Russell had described from the previous trip - trending upwards across a sheer wall with a 5 second drop. To make crossing easier/possible, footloops had been added to the traverse bolts, and it was clear this was going to be the best approach rather than adding in a ‘tightrope’ to get across the traverse that we had been considering. Russell was super keen to rebolt this scary traverse and cracked on efficiently, getting the job done in just over an hour. I followed after, derigging the old traverse rope (2003) but leaving the old footloops as they were. The last move up out of the traverse is the most awkward, but doable once you find the right footholds to swing up onto the ledge. I then leapfrogged Russell to continue with bolting, which we expected to be another tyrolean based on the description but had actually been left as a J hang. Deciding we agreed that this was a better option anyway, I added a bolt to make the top a Y hang then went across to do the same on the other side. When Russell followed across this it had some rub, so he added an extra bolt lower down which had the added advantage of making it passable on the way up without needing a descender. Finally, it was the last couple of bolts on the traverse and we reached the end of the fiddly SRT. +
+Next up was the climbs up towards Tinkle Rift, where I initially missed the second climb and ended up overlooking a very large rift which looked nothing like the p5 described. Backtracking slightly, we found the muddy climb up the wall and drafting passage leading into Tinkle Rift. With the high level Welsh style traverse sounding very unappealing, Russell quickly bolted a back up and Y hang here, and we dropped down into the rift. Slightly awkward crawling and climbing followed until the rift opened up and we could see ascending passage ahead and above us (Black Velvet). This was reached via an awkward climb and slightly scary step back over the route up which needs bolting next time but excitement to reach the end was too high for such things on this trip after so much faff. +
+We continued up the very pleasant Black Velvet passage, then turned into Far too Far and eventually reached the climb up into East Anglia at a lovely echoing aven. East Anglia turned out to be much more pleasant than the ‘flat and boring’ description had led us to believe, and includes one apparent dead end where the way on is to climb up to the right. At the end of this we reached another pitch not marked on the survey or description, at the start of the Natural Way section on the survey. +
+With it already being 11pm and feeling a long way from home, we decided to call it a day and turn around, leaving bolts and rope ready for our return. The way out was uneventful, although the walk back up through Knossos and Triassic Park does eventually start feeling quite old. We’d also both forgotten to double check the other had a water bottle so ended up rather dehydrated by the time we were at the bottom of the entrance pitch. Prussiking while tired and thirsty seemed very unappealing so we chose to crawl out of 161h instead and meandered our way back up the cliff, feeling very happy when we finally caught sight of the reflectors leading us to the entrance. After a slow walk back, we got back to top camp around 02:45. +