logbook update (Ben and hannah)

years/2023/logbook.html

@@ -748,6 +748,38 @@ typing out the way. Hannah convinced me to try a Goesser. Not bad as far as beer
 with continued expo attendance in future years, should this be the case.
 
 <div class="timeug">T/U: 0hrs</div>
+<hr />
+<div class="tripdate" id="t2023-08-02c">2023-08-02</div>
+<div class="trippeople"><u>Hannah Collings</u>, Nadia</div>
+<div class="triptitle">Fishface Camp - Pushing Theophilus Goon</div>
+
+<p>Tuesday was another wet day so a day of top camp fettling was had whilst plans were made for a fish face camp the following day. We had a (fairly) efficient morning, departing top camp shortly after 10 having received a debrief from the previous camp group, who had returned in the early hours, on the state of the latest leads.
+
+<p>Having been promised a dry day after the downpour of the previous day, Nadia and I were greatly unimpressed when it started raining as we kitted up at the fish face entrance. With several grumblings about the weather we got underground and had an uneventful and efficient descent to camp. We dropped off our camp things and enjoyed the luxury of an underground noodle lunch before heading off for leads beyond the traverse above clap my pitch up. Nadia and Kai had previously found a descent length of phreas beyond the traverse, named Theophlius boon, which we were hoping to continue. 
+
+<p>At the pushing front, there was a walking height passage we could have started with but at Nadia’s reluctance I decided we should start with the crawling C lead to ‘close it out’, assuming it wouldn’t go very far. 40m later, after some rather awkward surveying, we had decided we had had enough despite the small passage continuing, and left it as a C lead, concluding that even if it did go somewhere no one would be willing to drag tackle sacks down it. 
+
+<p>Returning to the much more sensible A lead, we prepared ourselves for our ‘proper’ surveying of the day assuming the walking phreatic passage would continue… we managed one survey leg and around the corner found a deep rift crossing our passage at a junction. After some deliberation it was decided the rift was free climbable and we continued left up the rift to a 3m free climb above which the passage ended. We retraced our steps to the junction and contemplated a climb over the opposite side of the rift. As all our other leads had dried up we decided this climb was manageable and I headed up to see if it went anywhere. There was another junction at the top, with the right hand branch quickly narrowing into what would be a very flat out crawl... not convinced a person would actually fit down. To the left was a crawling passage above the rift below which after 5m turned away from the rift and continued in a flat out muddy crawl. For some reason Nadia could not quite understand, I decided this muddy crawl went and proceeded to slither through in the interests of seeing whether there was anything beyond. After 10m it opened up into walking height phreas so I returned to Nadia, plastered in mud, to inform her of the good news. 
+
+<p>Surprisingly Nadia was not keen to join me in the mud frollicking before our return to camp so we surveyed up to the muddy crawl and decided to return the next day to tackle the mud. On our way back to camp we closed out another previous c lead earlier in theophilus boon, which crapped out after 4 legs. We had a very pleasant evening at camp with Frank and Ruairidh, who had been exploring leads in another part of the cave.
+
+<p>None of us set an alarm so a late start was had the next morning and Nadia and I didnt leave camp till 12. We returned with reluctance to the mud fest and braced ourselves for the crawl. We took a rope and put a handline on the climb up out of the rift that we had done the day before (we removed this handline on our way out later). The passage was quite pleasant beyond but we were so plastered in mud by this point it was a challenge to keep survey notes clean. The passage continued approx 100m in walking height phreatic passage, with a rift in the floor joining in at intervals along the passage. We passed a junction with a small passage in the ceiling following the direction of the passage below. Further down we found a second similar junction and suspected that these two C leads connected in a subsection of the main passage; it looked small and unappealing enough that we decided not to confirm our suspicion. The main passage gradually became more rifty and ended once it became too small to pass. Along the passage we found 6 interesting helictites, the most impressive one measuring approx 40cm long with a diameter of 5-10cm (there was some debate between Nadia and I on this).
+
+<p>We returned to the traverse above clap my pitch up and due to some misunderstanding believed that all the other leads beyond this point had crapped out so Nadia derigged the traverse. This was a bold move requiring a pull through to derig the last section… shame it transpired to be not as helpful as we had thought. We had a frustratingly slow ascent of the red line pitches as our jammers were more mud than jammer by this point so once back at the tap we had an srt kit cleaning session before making our way out. Nadia found the rope near the bottom of tk maxx was core shot and tied this out. Our way out was otherwise uneventful, getting back to top camp for about 1:30.
+
+<div class="timeug">T/U: 36hrs</div>
+<hr />
+<div class="tripdate" id="t2023-07-31b">2023-07-31</div>
+<div class="trippeople"><u>Ben Chaddock</u>, Charlie Crossley, Adam Erskine-Jones</div>
+<div class="triptitle">Fishface - Cocoa Channel Bolting Mission</div>
+
+<p>On the morning of my first pushing trip deep within Fishgesicht (5 minutes from camp) the nervous energy carried me up and away through the bountiful faff. After triple checking that we had all the equipment for bolting and surveying a rift that apparently continued but was too sketchy without a traverse line, Charlie, Adam EJ and I traipsed across the plateau for even more faff outside the entrance. After a prompt descent we met the camping team who showed us the way to silverback scoop including a stop at the tap and going down a wrong branch. Squeezing through a pitch head to descend 7m into a dusty tight canyon with a tackle sack full of heavy gear, I did wonder what I was doing, but once the drill was out that fell away completely.
+
+<p>6 bolts and a bomber handline later, I was round the corner into a section of cave previously untrodden. Whilst bolting is fun and productive, it takes a hell of a long time with a dull bit, so I was happy when the rift narrowed back up to allow clambering and bridging around the many meanders that presented themselves over the next 15 metres of canyon. During this time, the gardening process was intense, knocking off several flakes larger than dinner plates from the walls around me as I proceeded. Rounding the corner to another belled out section was both a joy and a disappointment as it meant that this had potential but also the decision-making regarding rope and how to descend would mean standing around and feeling cold. Charlie led the charge down and further along the canyon, trusting mine and EJ’s amateur one bolt wonder to squeeze into the next section of canyon, assessing what to do with our meagre supply of rope. All of this took us to 7pm and after terminating an almost entirely horizontal pitch, we decided to take our final leg and prussik out, hoping to make it out before August began.
+
+<p>The prussiking that then was meant to happen was further delayed on meeting the campers once again for a chit chat. After far too long wondering whether the next pitch was the last, we finally emerged into the warm clear night, comfortably into august. Charlie and I lay contemplating existence, and why the hell we bother caving but feeling very accomplished. All that was left to do after the trip was draw up the survey, continue the lead, input to survex, and write a logbook entry with rigging topo. All of that is now complete, see the topo below. 
+
+<div class="timeug">T/U: 12.5hrs</div>
 
 <hr /></body>
 </html>