China Caves Project 2001 Tian Xing 16th June

Cave and Dive

Tian Xing 16th June 2001

Chongqing
Municipality

Wulong
County

Jiang Kou
Town

Tian Xing
Village

China Caves Project 2001 Expedition Log

Log book authors shown in bold. Edited by Brian Judd and Wookey. Expletives have been deleted and some words changed to protect the innocent. Photos by Brian Judd unless otherwise stated. Guest Appearance by Erin Lynch and Rob Garrett with kind permission of Hong Mei Gui Caving Club.

16th June 2001

Erin Lynch, Chris Densham, Lev Bishop, Rob Garrett, Zhang Yuan Hai

Da Xiao Dong (Xiao Dong Ba, Chin Da Dong, Mega Dong) - Down the Doline

The day began well when we managed to blag a lift from part of the reporter entourage. Unfortunately our local guide then led us on a wild goose chase through overgrown trials leading right back to the road where we had started.

This should have been a clue, but we were slow learners, so we followed him down the doline and along a sketchy traverse to a ledge at the cave entrance. All would have been fine except for the 5 second drop between us and the floor.

Chris Densham continues: We were standing on the side of a large version of Malham cove, with a river at the bottom flowing into an entrance the size of Gaping Ghyll main chamber. The place had potential! But first we had to get down. Our useless guide disappeared and we spent the next several hours thrashing around on jungley slopes trying to get down. It rained. Eventually we recruited the services of an agile elderly gent (or rather Zhang did) who led us straight to the bottom just before the ledge overlooking the right hand side of the entrance halfway down the doline.

Cloud in Da Xiao Dong Doline

Rob Garrett photo by Chris Densham

Used up all our rope rigging handlines. Followed the stream into massive entrance. Followed the RH wall round... back towards daylight. Retreated to a rift heading off at the back, into a lovely dark walled canyonning style cave, vaguely reminiscent of Sa Fosca in Majorca in low water. However the plentiful flood debris and scoured walls demonstrated this was an active flood overflow. Armed with a single travelling tape we shinned down the first 2m climb (a fine Fontainbleu bouldering problem on return) then a 4m chute, having to retrieve the tape for the next ~5m traverse climb. Another couple of short climbs, then some zig-zagging horizontal reached a chute which we were ill-eqipped to descend. Returned to Zhang and our camera crew and trudged back to Tian Xing village in the dark, bagging a lift from a Chongqing TV 4WD for the last km or so.

Da Xiao Dong Sketch elevation from log book:

16th June 2001

Wookey, Brian Judd, Eoghan and Anne (nee Gallagher) Lynch, Oz Williams, Conor McGrath

Mi Dong
Chongqing TV jeep	Gear shifted to road head by TV crew in 4WD. Very handy. Rope left in nearby farmhouse. Team Da Xiao Dong went off in cars & team Mi Dong + huge entourage of TV people, photographer, reporters, locals & translator (Xami) set off. Got a couple of people to carry some of our gear but descent into doline was still very hard work. Descent of ~100-150m was extremely slippery and full of nettles (milder than English ones). Staggered down hill getting very hot & tired, photographed all the way by enthusisatic cameraman, who came all the way to the bottom despite being a big man with a big camera bag.
Eventually (1:30) got gear sorted & Eoghan rigged pitch.All new bolts needed as 1996 ones weren't re-findable except one which broke Eoghan's 8mm tap when he tried to clean it out. Team rigging (Eoghan and Conor) went downstream, followed by team photography (Anne and Brian), whilst team surveying (Wook and Oz) went upstream. Brian's camera failed so he joined the survey team, speeding things up significantly, and Anne went with the riggers. After surveying 200m upstream (to apparent dead end that very likely continues some 30m up the back wall) we followed the others downstream.

Entrance is very impressive - something like 60m round & 150m deep intersecting massive passageway which is about 60 x 30m upstream and 40 x 20m downstream. Entrance pitch is ~80m, but broken into 5 parts. Downstream is basically a canyonning trip. Very shortly inside the entrance the passage appears to split into a lower streamway & higher roof passage. The streamway is ~10 x 10m. There are loads of pools many of which need swinning, and some cascades and climbs a couple of which have handlines. There are also a few short pitches.

Team survey met team rigging returning at 3rd pitch. They reported that cave was sumped, somewhat earlier than the previous furthest-reached point. It was time to go home so we all cleared off out, derigging back to the entrance. (Rest of downstream cave is already surveyed). Entrance left rigged so that this lost survey can be re-done at some point.

Dark by the time we got out. Then slogged back up out of doline - at least it was a bit cooler! Farmers living near cave offered dinner - we refused, but accepted tea and shelter when it started raining. We were all shagged so got 3 of them to carry some of our gear and show us back to farmhouse and road, where we intended to leave the gear. Unfortunately they took us to wrong house ( and woke up confused residents!) so once this was cleared up with aid of more diagrams they took us to road where we stashed gear, then staggered home to Tian Xing village arriving at about 11:30 and got some dinner before crashing.

Time Underground 7 hours

Mi Dong Entrance pitch

2001 Index

17/18th June 2001

Explore Cave and Dive - Entrance Page