Moking Hurth / Moking Pot - Sunday 26th.
May.
After
a week instructing seventeen year olds how to brick themselves on a twenty foot
abseil, I headed, for Teesdale with Stu. Wilson and family from the Eden Valley
Centre! We reckoned that Moking Hurth might be a suitable trip for course student
and decided to check it out.
Parking
near the Langdon Beck Hotel gives a straightforward walk of half a mile or so
to the entrance in the obvious scar above the obvious limekiln. Unfortunately,
there are two scars & two limekilns. Give me the coordinates, Scotty. Once
found it is unmistakable and. a nice series of lofty cross rifts make for some
interesting route finding in search of the stream. There are in fact, four
entrances and all soon converge on the main stream passage, which is followed
at first across three traverses of varying ease before a drop into the water
lets the explorer ,“loose inside the bowels of the earth”, on a romp up a pleasant
streamway, 30 feet high. Calcite chokes & one or two tight bits are bypassed
by phreatic lifts that oxbow over the obstructions, and soon the end is in
sight. At least the end for mere mortals. Complete idiots & connoisseurs of
the Aygill Bypass route (!) can force themselves through a ridiculously wet
crawl to reach the downstream end of Moking Pot. In deference to the
manufacturers of a certain yellow over suit, I retreated as soon as one nostril
was submerged, and a naughty brachiopod grabbed hold of my attractive yellow
attire. It’s probably quicker to go out and round to Moking Pot anyway, located
in a shakehole over a wall to the north. Removing oil cans reveals a 25 foot
rift which is likely to be more awkward with a ladder than without - jugs
abound and there’s plenty of holds for your fires! Another phreatic lift can quickly
be located and followed to the stream which soon reaches the daft connection
with Making Hurth. Upstream is far more pleasant - easy walking in a fine rift
with good formations for 600-700 feet until the going becomes progressively
more difficult, and crawling is called for over sharp noduled limestone.
Enthusiasts of Yoredale caves can pass several loose blocks and pursue the
passage into Fossil Crawl which is best left for the naughty little
brachiopods. Not wishing to become fast in the passage, thereby creating anew
fossil species, the Trollobite, we sounded the retreat & headed for the
sunshine. The beautiful & rare Alpine flower, Blue Gentian, can be seen in
the locality before a pint & crisps are enjoyed at the hotel. An ideal day
out for the caving family.