Eight of us set out on the climb up the Trappieskop path a few minutes after 08h00 in calm, crisp and clear conditions. A very welcome change from the preceding week’s rain which exceeded 100mm in some areas. We ascended at an easy pace stopping often to savour the views and outline the route along the lower terrace. Anticipating some muddy sections we posed for a ‘before’ pic on the way up. We all easily made it through Lower Aladdin cave before arriving at the Dragon’s Mouth minutes later. The wriggle down and through was gloriously muddy as expected and not disappointingly dry like last year. Next was Clovelly cave which allowed some mandatory leopard crawl practice. The scramble up to the higher terrace gave a welcome stretch opportunity and we had our beverage break as soon as we reached the upper terrace and found a sunspot. After the break we took a circuitous route passing some lower unmarked caves before enjoying some Free Drinks Saloon. We then exited past the Devil’s Pit the depth of which was measured by an experienced member of the group. En route to Boomslang we were led in and out of Oread Halls by the same obliging caver. There was a flowing stream in the narrow sections and getting soaked and muddy at the tight bends was unavoidable fun. We took advantage of the crystal clear sky and still air to lunch at the cave entrance. We then headed up to South entrance of Boomslang and had a mostly dry walk through it. Most of the group took the narrow loop from the inner sanctum as a comparison to our moister earlier experiences. With the caving concluded we descended Echo Valley via Weary Willy’s and reached the vehicles safely just before 15h00.
