A short day down Owl Hole.

 We've been to Owl Hole before (infact it was the first "real" caving we did) and as we only had a short day we headed back there. The plan this time was to take the DSLR with us and all the lights in an attempt to get some amazing photographs. Below are the results, in for of a photo essay than an actual post. The first set are fromheading down into the Cascade Chamber. This is a chambers that's been heavily scaffolded as it's still rather loose. We only really went half was down it and stopped to view the Cascade, a beautiful flowstone waterfall, which looks like it's been frozen in time. Sadly your lighting wasn't up to it and it's so delicate that moving around just to place the lights would have damaged some delicate features of this cave. I don't think our photo's do it justice, but you'll get the idea.

(Chink, attempting to photography some flowstone)

(What Chink was actually photographing. Evidence of flowstone in cross-section, as it's been damaged, showing the layering as its formed over a bed of sand)

(Flowstone ridges on the cave walls)

(Tiny pools, each filled with growing crystals in water. I have no idea how these have formed)

(Possibly the same surface as the photo above, but taken from another angle)

(Looking back towards the shaft from the Cascade Chamber, with the scaffolding visible and stalagtubes growing from the ceiling)

(The second scaffolded shaft that leads off from the cascade chamber)

(Finney for scale, half way up the shaft to get out of cascade chamber)

(The best of the cascade shots. It really was so hard to get some decent lighting in there and because my headtorch was so bright the light reflexed back loads)

 We next intended on heading into the Crystal Pallas Chamber so after aiding back up to it and getting the gear inside, we actually ended up staying in the small chamber taking photo's before actually carrying on. We then moved into the Crystal Pallas and climbed down into the Gour chamber and had a proper little explore down there. The Gour chamber was worth the down climb and crawl, even if it made me muddier than ever before.

(Columns (above and below), light from behind the camera)

(a small inlet in the wall, with various small columns in it. We thought that at one time I must have been filled with water, as there is a significant widening of the column and the "edge" of the pool)

(A small curtain that joins into a small column, lit from behind)

(Crystals formations on edge of a curtain)

(a small pool, with several beds of tiny crystals growing in it)

And from the Gour chamber and Crystal Pallas:

(Beautiful speolotherms taken with no flash and my headtorch as lighting)

(Same view, but with 8 seconds long exposure instead)

(The sump at the base on the gour chamber. I don't know if it dries up or leads anywhere but there's always the hope that it'll open up into a new system!)

Sadly the shots actually inside the gour chamber didn't come out very well at all, and thus haven't been included. There's no team pic from this trip because by the time we'd got out we were all literally covered in mud, and it was cold. Still wasn't a bad trip.