Paul and I arrived at the NPC on Friday night to find Jim and Boyd already there, so we all headed out to the pub. I was absolutely exhausted and by 11:00 had got to the point where I simply couldn't stop yawning.
Met Keith and Phil Walker in Bernies on Saturday morning and, after some discussion, decided to go to Alum. Water levels were really quite low and it was quite a dry trip down Dolly Tubs, although Paul managed to fall in Plank Pool. Paul and I got as far as the shelf above the Bridge and decided to head back out but the other four bottomed Alum and had a look at the sump.
On Sunday Boyd headed off home after Bernies and the rest of us went on to Kingsdale. Paul's shoulder was playing up again, but he generously offered to rig Valley Entrance for us, so the four of us trudged off up the hill and went straight to the entrance to Swinsto (I think Keith knows where it is now!).
Had a cracking trip down through Swinsto. The 300m crawl was hard on the knees and wrists and the water was really cold, but overall it was fine. I found a couple of what Jim told me were Stonefly larvae. Some of the pitch take-offs were a little scary and exposed - you don't realise how much you rely on a back-up rope until it's no longer there! - but as long as you're careful it's fine. We dropped through the boulder choke into the streamway and crawled and stooped our way along to the main streamway, which seemed fairly short to the bottom of the Valley Entrance pitch. We emerged after about 31/4 hours into the rain.
An uneventful, but very enjoyable trip that I've been meaning to do for ages. Definitely one I'll do again.
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