Grottes et karsts de Chine
Sur les traces de Xu Xiake

10 minute walk from the old temple, to the E of the building site.

Partially descended by Ding Ding in 2003, the pothole trends on 220°. The rock throughout the cave is generally limestone thinly interbedded with mudstone, making for interesting rigging. It's better decorated than most other caves in the area, and has a series of flowstone formations and muddy gour pools, which also make it a reasonably wet trip.

A 1m wide, 5m long slot partially covered by rocks lands immediately on a sloping ledge of debris at the top of a 9m shaft. A descent next to flowstone lands on a floor of rocks, debris and rat turds. To the east there is a too tight hole. To the west the floor slopes away to the head of the second pitch, 18m dropping past a number of ledges, the first of which is 2m wide and has a lead in the far corner. At the bottom a single bolt is the belay for a handline through a constriction and onto a loose 5m climb down to a wet mud-floored chamber with leeches. To the northwest there are two climbs to the base of a wet aven and to the east the stream sinks in a too tight crawl. The way on is up a climb and through a squeeze (a handline here is very useful) to the southwest into Rat Nest Rift, a 3m wide hading rift. A handline/pitch rigged off a y-hang at the top of Rat Nest Rift serves for a sloping descent past a ledge with a nest made of leaves and a qm at the far side where a small stream enters. Care is needed as many of the footholds are mobile. At the bottom water running down flowstone on the right wall forms an over-welly-deep pool which may be skirted to the right. The passage pinches in to a phreatic tube crawl where convenient ledges avoid the worst of the water, coming to the head of the third pitch. Rigged off a single natural, it's a wet descent against flowstone made better by agressive bailing of the muddy gour pools above. The pitch lands in a pool with a catchy rift going off, leading to two climbs down over gours and then a further rift ending at the head of Wet Pitch (the rift continues beyond as a qm). This pitch is currently rigged off a natural and single bolt. Two more bolts much further out would avoid the rub at the top and the worst of the water. Again, agressive bailing gives a drippy as opposed to soaking descent past nice flowstone formations, landing in a section of high canyon with an aven immediately on the right. More gour pools lead to the top of Gour Pitch, a series of short steps down past calcited ledges. A traverse round to the left and over a nose of rock gives a dry hang to a muddy ledge where two bolts high on the left wall (tall rigger required) protect the next step down. A single bolt serves for the descent past the final two ledges. At the bottom a short section of stooping gains Dig Pitch. Rigged off two naturals this lands in a pool which again can be skirted to the right. There is a prominent band of mudstone at this level, and the floor is mostly mud. The way on is through a hammered open squeeze just above the level of the water in the gour pools.

Beyond the squeeze, the cave is rat-free, although there are small amounts of guano. The squeeze leads to a small ledge at the top of a shaft, with just enough room to put on SRT kits to descend the First Mudstone Series. A y-hang in the ceiling (ring hangers needed) serves for a 5m descent past flowstone and a false-floor of mud to a sloping calcited ledge, to a rebelay off a single bolt and further 18m drop with several rubs against flowstone, landing on another ledge. A bolt in the only good rock gives a scrappy hang which rubs immediately against a lip of mudstone, landing after 5m in a pool on a ledge, where a bolt deviation clears the lip for the final 4m hang to the bottom of the shaft: an uninviting deep pool surrounded by banks of quick-mud.

On first inspection the bottom of the shaft appears blind, but a small hole down in the far corner behind a nose of rock leads to the Second Mudstone Series. The rigging begins with a high y-hang (again, a shortage of decent rock), deviated at the hole by a single bolt and krab (no sling required). After 11m it lands on a ledge with prominent thick bands of mudstone protruding from all sides. A y off 2 bolts high up in the only band of limestone (on the "wrong" side of the shaft for a clean hang), and a 'tector on the edge gives a wet and scrappy descent of 18m to a floor of pock-marked calcite. Halfway down the pitch, pasage can be seen going off on the opposite side of the shaft.

From the bottom of the Second Mudstone Series, a gour-floored rift heads west with some of the best formations in the cave. After 25m the passage ends in a low wet crawl over descending gours which becomes increasingly grim and low until it is not possible to go any further. The gours might succumb to hammering, but the low bit appeared to continue without relief for at least 5m. The draught in this part of the cave has proved elusive, so something might have been missed.

7 bats, various small insects, two rats nests, 2 large rats, and copious amounts of rat shit were seen in the cave.

EML 2003.12.05

EML 2004.04.02