VALENTINE CAVE (2009)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A cave entrance without specified shape, dimensions or unmistakable characteristics is said to give access to a shaft (note 1), a shaft dropping (Hardy & Pacey 2009.02.14 Mss) or a pothole (note 2). ETYMOLOGY: No original, locally known name has been identified for this cave, which simply got christened Valentine Cave (Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss -Diary 2009.doc- Saturday 14th February) and ended up as an Anglo-Khasi bastard named Krem Valentine Found On Valentines Day (Hardy & Pacey 2009.02.14 Mss). SITUATION: Unknown. According to strikingly irrelevant drill ground speak, the cave entrance is located beyond a window though the limestone in base of the gully (Hardy & Pacey (2009.02.14 Mss: Krem Valentine). Brooks, S J et al. (2009.02 Mss -Diary 2009.doc- Friday 13th February) confirm that the cave entrance lies not only in a gully without identified name but also without identified direction and distance below the village of Lelad (note 3) and also without identified spatial relaton to the nearby cave entrances. APPROACH: Unknown. Hardy & Pacey (2009.02.14 Mss: Krem Valentine) simply command to Follow path towards gully. Walk along the promontory to the right of the gully. Drop down into it (note 4). CAVE DESCRIPTION: None. All that had been identified was a shaft (Hardy & Pacey 2009.02.14 Mss) bettered into pothole (Brooks undated June 2009 amendment to Hardy & Pacey 2009.02.14 Mss). Somewhere in this cave, there is a boulder choke at the base of the second pitch where one can see a large, once loose Henry (caver's patois for: boulder), which proudly is announced to have hit (Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss: Diary 2009.doc) or almost crushed (Hardy & Pacey 2009.02.14 Mss) another Henry (Henry Rockcliff). CAVE CONTENTS: Hardy & Pacey (2009.02.14 Mss) noticed calcite, pebbles, big loose boulders. TACKLE: Hardy & Pacey (2009.02.14 Mss): 40 m rope required for 1st & 2nd pitch. Entrance shaft drops down approx. 4 m to top of the 2nd pitch. Some loose boulders at he this [sic!] point. The 2nd pitch is approx. 10 m. There is a big hanging boulder at the same level as the deviation bolt. There are two ways on. Through a very loose boulder choke approx. 4 m deep to meander passage and 10 m to the next pitch (approx. 4 m deep). The other way on is through a tight crawl, 5 m from base of pitch (approx. 4 m long) to another pitch head (depth unknown). SPELEOMETRY: Brooks (undated 2009 June Mss amendment to Hardy & Pacey 2009.02.14 Mss: Krem Valentine) wanted to have the partly explored but not surveyed pothole explored & mapped (sic!). This is not the case. PROSPECTS: Hardy & Pacey (2009.02.14 Mss -Krem Valentine- prospects) arrived not only at understanding that a crawl at an unidentified location was explored but needs digging but also judged the cave is likely to drop down further as the boulder choke at bottom of pitch is explored but left unsurveyed due to a loose boulder … (note 5). CAVE CLIMATE: Neil Pacey, Joanne -Jo- Hardy, and Pankaj Rai (eaman 1st Class, Indian Navy) encountered on 14th February 2009 (no time mentioned) an air current without specified volume or flow direction but recorded a strong, warm, moist, draft [sic!] (Hardy & Pacey 2009.02.14 Mss: Krem Valentine), which soon was identified as a kind of drafting [sic!] warm, moist air (Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss -Diary 2009.doc- Saturday 14th February). CAVE LIFE: Hardy & Pacey (2009.02.14 Mss -Krem Valentine- prospects) noticed shellles [] sic!] snails, spiders, bat.eaman 1st Class, Indian Navy) encountered on 14th February 2009 (no time mentioned) an air current without specified volume or flow direction but recorded a strong, warm, moist, draft [sic!] (Hardy & Pacey 2009.02.14 Mss: Krem Valentine), which soon was identified as a kind of drafting [sic!] warm, moist air (Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss -Diary 2009.doc- Saturday 14th February). CAVE LIFE: Hardy & Pacey (2009.02.14 Mss -Krem Valentine- prospects) noticed shellles [] sic!] snails, spiders, bat.