Back to Bwlch y Plwm

Kate had suggested an underground trip before term would start again. There were not many takers, but I thought it was an excellent idea! And when the day came close, she suggested Bwlch y Plwm. It is a through trip; you go in at the top, go down the first pitch, pull the rope down behind you, use it to rig the second pitch, pull the rope down again, and walk out at the bottom. And that is rather straightforward. The only thing with a trip like this is: once you pulled the rope down the first time, you are committed. Nothing should go wrong after that, as you can't go out the way you came in. 

There were two challenges with this trip. The first one was that I wasn't sure I would be able to find the entrance. I have never been good at that, but now I also hadn't been in many years! Kate said she would manage. And the second thing was, obviously, the rigging. Neither of us had a rope that was long enough for the second pitch. And I am not one who objects to just tying two ropes together, but it does include a complication. More opportunities for a rope to get snagged!

We agreed we needed to have a call-out, and I found Martin willing to be that. But I know he was busy on the eve of the field trip, of which he is the organiser this year, so I didn't want to set it too late. I told him to phone the police if I hadn't been in touch by 11 pm. But I wanted to be out by 10. I'm not much of a nightcrawler!

We met at six in Betws, and drove down together. It is fair way! And Kate parked somewhere quite far from where I had parked in the past. That threw me a bit; didn't that mean we would be quite far from the entrance? And how would we find it? But she was reasonably confident. So we got kitted up, and made a plan while doing it.

By that time it was seven, and we didn't know how long it would take us to find the entrance. And we were working on a tight deadline! I really wanted to avoid us causing a call-out. So our plan was: find the entrance, rig the first pitch, go down, go back up again, and if we had time and felt like it, go in through the bottom entrance and have a look around. That's the most interesting level anyway! And we were parked right by it.

We set off up the hill. Soon the terrain started looking familiar. But the actual entrance didn't show itself! We were just on a wild goose chase. And at some point I suggested we would just sit down and have our sandwiches. And I suggested we find a spot with a good view. Kate pointed to a good spot, and we climbed towards it. It indeed had a good view! And it had something else: the entrance! We had now accidentally found it. But sandwiches first!

When we had eaten our dinner we went in. The pitch is really close to the entrance. Kate rigged it and went down. I followed, but quickly reversed as she asked me to bring her bag which she had forgot. And then we were both at the bottom of the first pitch! Memories came flooding back. And we explored the little there was to explore at this level. And then we could come out again! I went up first, and was soon back at entrance level. Then Kate got on the rope.

Pic by Kate

Nice drippies. Pic by Kate

She struggled. She was wearing a new harness, and after a while it became obvious that she had not configured it in such a way she could comfortably get up a rope. Luckily I spotted what she could do about it and that helped! And she came out. And we walked back to the car. It wasn't very late, but it was good enough for me. That lower entrance could wait! Now that we know where the entrance was, we could come back some other day and get there a bit more efficiently. And then just do the entire trip within the given time. And Kate agreed. So we got changed. And I texted Martin. 

It hadn't been a spectacular night underground, but that was okay! We had had plenty of time to catch up, and we had even got underground and done a little bit of SRT. So a good night! And I have faith we will come back one night!