Three Bolts Each

Logistics And Organisation

The team from Hong Chi Ba arrived in Jiang Kou, to join Dave Brook, Pete Francis, Adrian Gregory, Eoghan Lynch, Anne Gallagher, Steve Mulhull and Kevin Munn, who had recently arrived from the UK and Ireland. Although delighted to see them, I was dismayed to find they hadn't brought any extra rope or bolts!

The bulk of our equipment was still stuck in Hong Kong. I had phoned in the UK and we had faxed from China, but somehow the communications hadn't got through. It was an irony that the new team had brought a heavy drill, but we only had 40 bolts, enough for three bolts each. Since the bulk of the caves we were about to explore were likely to be deep and vertical, our equipment was going to be woefully inadequate. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or rage. In the end I alternated between all three, with some periods of relative calm! It was a wonderful lesson in expedition logistics and communication, or the lack of them. As far as I know, the drill was never used.

Our changed circumstances did have one very positive outcome, in that we decided to do a much wider reconnaissance of the area than we would otherwise have done. This eventually led to some of the most exciting discoveries on the expedition, including the finding of some of the largest cave entrances yet seen by a foreign expedition in China.

Jack, Laurie, Eoghan and Anne stayed in Jiang Kou to investigate Furong Dong and try to contact Andy Eavis about the freight, while the rest of the team moved up to the village of Tian Xing on the plateau above, to start work on the caves there.

Rationing the bolts!

Local pipe smoker. Another of life's ironies that tobacco can be both therapeutic and also harmful.

The Tian Xing farmhouse we stayed in wasn't as luxurious as the Furong Hotel in Jiang Kou, nor the food as varied, but it did have one big advantage. Most of the caves were within walking distance and this made us largely independent of vehicle transport, although it was physically demanding. Transport had always been something of a problem, because we had little control over when vehicles might arrive, leave, return, or even where they might take us. This time we knew where we wanted to go from the map and the previous expeditions, so it was mostly a matter of organising ourselves. We also negotiated permission to stay in other farmhouses as our search widened. There were times when we were told it would not be possible to go to some places, but we managed to get round this with gentle persuasion. Having the freedom to roam about the Chinese countryside was an enjoyable and interesting experience.

Down in the valley, Jack, Laurie, Eoghan and Anne started to examine Furong Dong. This cave is a major relic resurgence modified by collapse and speleothems. The main show cave consists of a large passage 30 -50m in width and height and terminates in a huge boulder pile. The 1994 expedition had found a route through on the right hand side, which led to a side passage 15-20 wide, completely covered with aragonite crystals. The southern limit of the passage is blocked by a stalagmite flow. The passage probably continues beyond this blockage. On the eastern side of the final chamber a huge pit drops 200m into a fault bounded chamber. At the bottom a mud slope drops to a clean washed boulder choke. Unfortunately all ways on are blocked.

Speleothems in Furong Dong
Photo: Furong Show Cave

The team searched the cave for two days to find an extension, but given that the Chinese had already expended considerable effort here, it was hard to find anything new.

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