Tham Nam Tok Nam Poen - NA0068

(TH)
19.402360,101.083019
Length 569m Depth 138m
Grottocenter / carte

Location

From the Security Development Project headquarters in Ban Mani Phruk take the sealed road south (not the road that goes back down to Chiang Klang). As this road turns north take a dirt road south. Drive past the National Park ranger station to a Y junction and take the left hand fork. Turn left at the next Y junction and drive down the rough track into the Nam Poen doline. The track eventually levels out and opens up with a wide parking area on the left.There are two concrete water tanks near the parking area and there is a path from here that leads downhill into the entrance doline. The National Park has constructed wooden handrails and a ladder to aid access into the doline. Martin Ellis - 23/09/2020

Description

Martin Ellis - 23/09/2020

The Nam Poen stream drops over a 20m waterfall into the large collapse doline. The waterfall is above a large cave entrance (15m high and 15m wide) where the stream disappears underground. The descent of the doline slope is steep, and below where the waterfall lands the rocks become very slippery, so a long handline is advised. At one short 4m drop a rope rigged for SRT, from an 8mm spit in a boulder, another spit in the ledge to the left and rebelay anchor below the lip of the pitch, is required because of the very slippery rocks. The entrance chamber is large with big boulders and some impressively sized tree trunks which have been washed in. By climbing the mud bank on the right an ascending passage heading north is reached. After 50m this opens into Mud Chamber where the ascent of mud and rocks continues to the base of a 3m muddy climb that has not been scaled. The passage can be seen to continue above this 3m, which is at the same altitiude as the top of the entrance doline. The Mud Chamber and passage is a seasonal inlet which only had a small trickle of water in February 2010. Back in the entrance chamber the main way on is to follow the water down the boulders. A 2m drop followed by a 4m drop can be climbed and then the passage narrows. It continues to descend steeply with several short cascades and climbs before opening out into a high rift which soon leads to a wet 10m pitch. A short traverse was rigged with 8mm spits from a Y hang out to another Y hang over the pitch. 3m down a Y hang rebelay helps keep the rope out from directly under the waterfall, but it is still a wet descent. From the bottom of the pitch the stream descends to the right through piles of flood debris to soon reach a sump. Heading left from the bottom of the 10m pitch is a passage which ascends at 30¦ up a slope of silt. After 30m the passage levels out and becomes floored with mud for another 30m to a low crawl. Beyond the short crawl the cave opens into a taller, wider, boulder floored passage, passing a high rift inlet on the left then gradually descending and decreasing in size to reach a very unpleasant muddy duck. The cave enlarges again the other side of the duck into a mud floored chamber with a clean washed 15m pitch. Below the P15 the passage descends to a mud choke while on the north (left hand) side of this passage is an inlet passage that has been ascended to the foot of a 20m pitch. Back at the entrance doline there is another cave at the top of the doline which appears to be the fossil upstream part of the cave. It can be reached by going along the ledge from the bottom of the access ladder into the doline and the cave ascends steeply to a boulder choke which must be close to the surface. This cave has not been surveyed.

Topographie

Martin Ellis - 23/09/2020

SMCC February 2010 - Grade UISv2 3-3-F Ellis, Martin (2010c)

Documents

Bibliography 23/09/2020

History

The cave was found by the SMCC in 2009 and then explored and surveyed by the SMCC in February 2010. 2009-02-17 SMCC (M. Ellis, C. Dummer, P. Dummer, I. Hollis, P. Collett) 2010-02-17 SMCC (M. Ellis, P. Collett, I. Hollis, N. Walmsley) 2010-02-19 SMCC (M. Ellis, P. Collett, A. Manners, N. Walmsley) Martin Ellis - 23/09/2020

Caves nearby

Distance (km)NameLength (m)Depth (m)
0.5Sink NA0108
0.5Tham Huai Poen - NA0069467175
0.7Sink NA0109
1.1Sink NA0113
1.2Sink NA0112
1.3Sink NA0110
1.4Sink NA0107
1.5Sink NA0111
1.6Tham Pon [NA0084]16489