Llanrwst deep adit

In May, my Cornish friends drew my attention to a mine entrance I hadn’t been aware of. I promised them I would check it out, and if it was worth it, show them around next time. I figured I could have a look with sharon, with whom I go on adventures more often. She was up for it! And in late July we found a weekend that worked for us both.

We met up at the usual parking lot and got ready. Some cars pulled up, and they turned out to contain three lads who were going into a different mine. We wished each other a good trip, we each went to the adit over our choice. As there had been confusion about where exactly ours is on our digital map, I did make some footage for our map guardian. He was pleased with that! We stored our valuables away and went in. I had been warned this was muddy.

The entrance; pic by Sharon

Inside. Pic by Sharon

With drippies. Pic by Sharon

Immediately behind the entrance, the adit forks. We followed one level and it wasn't extensive. It looked good though! And the same health for the other level. So we were glad to have seen it, but it's not a full day trip!

When we got out I strongly suggested a cake break. While munching on ginger cake, Sharon said she wanted to go into Parc, and then come out at Kneebone Cutting. And then climb back to the path. I had been in Kneebone Cutting before, but never climbed out. Sharon said that a friend of hers had recently done it and said it was quite doable, and I was happy to believe that. So we had a plan! I had an additional sandwich to fuel up for that bonus trip, and then we went back to the cars, as for this trip, we would need SRT kit. 

We got in, descended the ladders, and got to the short pitch to the level we needed to be at. There we found one of the three lads again. He had decided not to go down and was waiting for his mates there. When we went down the pitch we soon found them.

Coming down the last ladder. Pic by Sharon

In my memory, it was quite a slog to where you could come out at kneebone cutting, but in reality it isn't. So we inserted a little detour to the nearby ore chutes. But then we waited through the ochrous water and came out into daylight.

The ore chutes. Pic by Sharon

We couldn’t resist a ladder near the chutes. Pic by Sharon

Daylight! Pic by Sharon

I went to have a look at the most plausible route out. The beginning looked tricky, as the rock was wet and mossy. It wasn't very slippery, though! So I quickly made progress up the slope. Until I got to a point where it became a bit of a puzzle. I just had a good feel where there might be a good handholds under the moss. I am not a confident free climber, so I took my time! Sharon came up behind me. And in the end I managed to get to the next platform with a bit of help from her keeping my foot on a foothold. At the platform I fixed the rope, that had been fixed to my harness, to a small tree, and that allowed Sharon to come up as well.

Me having a look at how to climb out. Pic by Sharon

Summit selfie! By Sharon

We were on the platform now, but not out yet! There were still some 2 to 3 m to climb. The alternative was to go back. I wasn't keen on climbing down the bit I had just come up. Up is always easier! And yes, we had a rope, but if we would use that to come down safely, we might have had to leave it behind. I thought we should try to avoid that.

I was eyeing up some blocky rocks on the left side, or a fallen-over tree on the right. Sharon was eying up a gully. I didn’t like the gully; the lower bit looked slippery, and if you would fall you would fall all the way to the bottom of the pit. I was looking at routes above the platform. Only a few meters to fall, max! 

After having another look, and a tug on the upside down tree, I wondered if we could combine our best plans. Maybe I could use the fallen-over tree to bypass the tricky part of the gully, but then traverse into it. It was worth a try!

The higher I got the clearer it became that the tree wasn't fixed to very much anymore. But I still figured that if it would come down, it wouldn't fall further than the platform. So I climbed to a ledge, and from there, still helped by the tree, over the ridge on the left side of the gully. I wrestled myself underneath the tree, and finally managed to hoist myself up at the top. We had done it!

I fixed the rope to an appropriate tree, and then Sharon came up too. By now even she was hungry. So I sent a message to my call-out that we were out safe, and then we had the rest of our food. And walked back to the cars. 

My initial plan has been to do a run after the underground exploring, but we had taken longer than I thought we would, and I was a bit hungry by now. I looked forward to the chance to run somewhere else, though; I know the routes around my house a bit too well. So I did it anyway! I fitted in 5 km. And then I went home. 

It had been a crazier adventure than had been the intention, but we had had fun, and nothing unpleasant had happened. And I had done a bit of overcoming my fears! So a good day. But I am really curious now how exactly Sharon's friend had climbed out…