Grottes et karsts de Chine
Sur les traces de Xu Xiake

Best reached from gully near path. Scrappy descent for 20m through vegetation to start of first gully pitch. Two deviations give a rub-free hang/thrash through bushes, ending in a steeply descending rocky stream course. Shortly a tricky climb is reached, rigged with a bolt y-hang. Further on the gully becomes much steeper at the start of the long cliff pitch. Here rigging could be improved by replacing two of the bolts with ones a few meters higher up to avoid rubs. As the pitch descends, there are several entrances visible, one of which splatters water near the rig. A 180m rope just barely reaches a ledge which traverses around to the left and into the cave entrance.

Like many of the caves in this area, Lei Gong Dong runs on 60° It is the largest of an approximately vertical line of caves in the cliff. The cliff above the entrance is overhung with fantastic thinly-bedded folds, so at the drip-line the cave is some 50m+ tall. This swiftly reduces to about 12m tall, 8m wide, with a bouldery stream course (dry in March 2004) descending steeply from the entrance. Inside the entrance, to the left there is a 6m climb. From the top of the climb, to the left a steeply ascending meandering rift passage leads to a second small entrance which overlooks the first, to the right a tight hading rift goes for 20m on 60° before becoming too tight. Back in the main passage, tje floor of boulders gives way to a slope of mud and the roof comes down. It looks like the cave may fill to the roof in wet weather. At the bottom of the short slope, the passage is 8m wide, 3-5m tall and 60m long, with large mudbanks divided by a tiny meandering stream coming mainly from an aven halfway along the passage. At the end of the passage there is a short crawl where a miniscule trickle comes from a very unappealing duck/squeeze in mud and water. Delightful.

One bat was seen.

EML 2004.03.28

Lao Fu 2004.03.28