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Mi Dong Entrance
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1996 Yangtze Gorges Expedition
Mi Dong
Jiang Kou Area
Dave Brook, Kevin Munn and Pete Francis, found the entrance to Mi Dong, while on reconnaissance with Lui Shi Quan, the local policeman and Lang Jin Hua, one of our interpreters. It is one of the most impressive entrances seen by a foreign caving expedition in China, yet the local people who guided them to another cave nearby, didn't think we would be interested in it! The sides of the doline drop steeply for 110m, to the edge of a 100m diameter shaft, 80m deep.
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Dave Brook demonstrates his successful 'minimalist' philosophy of cave exploration and equipment.
Photo: Jack Sheldon
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Dave and Kevin returned with rope to drop down the 80m pitch and discovered a large steamway, with deep pools, continued at the bottom. The following day, Eoghan Lynch and Anne Gallagher led the way into this 40m high and 15m wide passage, climbing to avoid the water and rigging traverses for others to follow. |
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Dave and Pete surveyed, while Ben Lovett and Ali Garman took photographs and made Dave's initial rigging safer for more traffic.
Eoghan was stopped by a 15m pitch after exploring 250m to 207.9m depth. He returned to Tian Xing village with Anne to get more equipment, leaving the others to stay in a nearby farmhouse.
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Photo: Adrian Gregory
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Eoghan and Anne continued exploration using rubber inner tubes to cross the deep pools. They surveyed down two pitches for 250m and halted at another pitch. Adrian Gregory, Ben and Ali took photographs up to the limit of the day before. |
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Eoghan Lynch tries to be philosophical about having to stop exploration of the large river passage in Mi Dong.
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The final day of exploration saw Eoghan, Anne and Greg push and survey onwards for another 300m. At this point it was clear further exploration would need wetsuits and they de-rigged most of the cave.
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The last rope was pulled out of the cave two days later by Steve Mulhull, Jack and Laurie Sheldon and I. We had decided, at least I was hoping, to push at least one cave to some sort of conclusion before the expedition ended. The cave chosen was, Da Dong - Big Cave.
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