Grottes et karsts de Chine
Sur les traces de Xu Xiake

The southern pothole entrance of Quarry Cave, Upper Colonic, begins as a nice hang off a large tree trunk rigged through thorn bushes. The clean rock of the pitch head shortly becomes overhanging loose crumbly mud, making this a one-way trip. At the bottom of the shaft a mud-choked rift leads off, descending steeply to a further Correctol Constriction, where the mud spills out, forming a mound of sinking wet slop in the cave's trunk passage.

To the left (South) lies a small chamber ending in a calcite choke. The way on is to the right, descending the mud pile to a 12 metre wide chamber -- the largest in the cave. It is well decorated, with several sizeable stalactites. At the far end a climb up to the left over flowstone leads to a short section of rift ending in a calcite choke, while to the right the cave continues briefly as 8m wide passage before constricting at a step-down. Here the passage is characterized by a dry mud floor with a channel down the middle and an abundance of flowstone on the walls. The passage narrows further at yet another calcite blockage. Back to the left is a steep climb up flowstone to a possible lead, while to the right of the blockage a crawlway leads to a further indignity -- a belly crawl over mud ending in Lomotil Squeeze.

Beyond Lomotil the cave opens out to a modest but reasonable size and continues in the same vein as before until a large fallen stal is encountered. Here the ceiling rises and there is an unpromising lead high and to the right. As the quarry draws near the floor is littered with fallen stalactites. Climbing around a final passage-filling formation, the quarry Fiber Diet entrance is reached. A scramble up a mound of debris and careful step over a turd gains the surface, while to the right the cave continues for a further 10 metres before reaching a welcome conclusion.

Hilary Greaves

Erin Lynch

Liu Hong