Back to where we were before

Last week I had been disappointed to not manage to get to the far end of the dig, as I had the week before that. The infamous door-shaped slab was still stubbornly in the way! It was a bit of a pain to try to get rid of it. I thought there were things leaning against it, so I didn't want to be there when it would shatter or fall over. I also preferred to stay out of the way while drilling. Drilling means vibrations, vibrations can bring stuff down! But this week I would have another try. It was me on my own; the others were elsewhere.

When I got to the generator chamber I filled up the generator of which the tank was only half full. Beyond I found some dig-related items neatly displayed on a rock, with a little arrow pointing into the dig. Aha, a message from the other side! I packed the items in my bag and went through the chambers we had already broken through to the working end.

I found Miles having already drilled several holes much further out; he was more on a mission to make the passage wider than making it reach further. As usual. We charged the holes up and blew them, doing a bit of causeway work while waiting for the resin to set. I had managed to get though the level as good as dry! But properly dry is even better.

We had quite a lot of rock to clear after blasting. We sorted it, and still had time for an attack on the Door. I decided I could risk getting a bit closer to it while drilling than before, which made it more comfortable. Or rather, less uncomfortable. And Miles had made an extra short charge! That would come in handy, as it was wildly difficult to drill deep enough holes for a classic charge in that rock. But with some effort I just managed, and one of my previous attempts was deep enough for the short charge. Time to give it a try!

Spot the six holes in the rock

After blasting I  saw to my dismay it was still standing. But it moved! And it seemed it was not supporting any of the other rocks! So I banged it with a crowbar, kicked it, shoved it, rattled it, and finally managed to topple it over. It was still a bit in the way so I shoved and pushed a bit more until I had shoved it properly out of the way. Success! There was another vertical slab, but that one was also standing free, and I could now topple that over too. The way was clear! Success!

 The view back into the passage! Notice Miles' light on the other side.

I tried to convince Miles to come through and have a look, but he decided he wouldn't. It was almost time for him to go home and he feared he would get carried away if he would come through. We will leave that for next week!