9 July 2026. Despite rain being predicted for the day, the team was as committed as ever. We started out from Echo Valley and gunned up the Jojulu track to try to beat the rain. We made short work of the first abseil to the upper level, and everyone had a chance to look around before another short abseil down to the middle level, where we got to spend a bit of time and take a group photo.
After the last abseil down, a light drizzle had started as we proceeded toward Clovelly Cave. We did the entire route down to the deepest part of the cave and back. There were a few moments along the way where things were a little tough, with tight squeezes, but in the end everyone survived. We didn’t stay in the lowest part of the cave due to the poor air quality and soon headed back for a couple more squeezes on the way back.
We emerged from Clovelly Cave in varying states of exhaustion and hunger to a very wet exterior, and after refuelling and recharging, we headed up in the light rain to the upper terrace. Expecting a very wet Oread Halls, we were pleasantly surprised that the tunnel was clear of water. We opted to get out of the rain ASAP and entered Annie’s Hall before we all squeezed through the tunnel and explored the rest of the cave.
After about an hour, we emerged to lovely weather for the walk back, when we decided to take the rather wet scramble down to Dragon Cave and Double View Arcade before finally joining up with the Echo Valley path again. We ended in high spirits despite the ridiculous amount of sand and dirt we were covered in!
Photos Credit: Julian Eloff
