B44 Grill Cave
From TDMSKP Australian Outdoor Sports Guide
Caving is a dangerous sport. Participation in this sport may result in serious injury or even death. Please familiarise yourself with the dangers of caving before participating in this sport.
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[edit] Equipment Required
- Overalls are the best clothing for basic caving as they won't get pulled down, or pulled up as you pass through tight spots as pants and shirts may. However, an old set of clothing will suffice, if lacking overalls (buying a set of overalls from a St Vinnies store is inexpensive)
- Boots are the best form of footwear to resist the scraping and rock kicking you will be doing while wriggling through squeezes. However, joggers will suffice if you lack boots.
- A Helmet is absolutely necessary for any cave, not only as a protection from falling rocks or from falling down yourself and hitting your head; the helmet will simply protect your head from all of the times you will whack it against the roof and other protruding rocks you didn't see. Caving without a helmet is a 100% sure fire way to give yourself a headache for a week if not far worse problems.
- A Headlamp is also absolutely required. A torch is not good enough because caving requires both hands be free in order to climb up and down and over rocks. If you have to sacrifice one hand to the torch when climbing, you will probably fall. If you sacrifice your torch while climbing, then you will probably not be able to see what you are climbing - and fall. A head mounted light is the only option.
- Reserve lighting is strongly recommended. Two forms of reserve lighting are standard, and this reserve lighting is usually a sencond headlamp ideally, and then anything which produces light - a candle, a glow stick, a pocket torch. Obviously these items are carried incase your primary headlamp fails, the batteries die mid cave, you drop your torch somehow or any other problem which causes your primary headlamp to no longer be available.
- A naked flame to check for oxygen levels. A match, a lighter, or a candle can be used to test for oxygen levels and as the most straightforward method of seeing if it is still safe to proceed down into the cave. Candles are the best.
- Supplies - This cave takes as long as you spend in it. If you go down for 1 hour, it will take more than 1 hour to climb back up. But you are in complete control of how long you spend in it (unless there is an accident). So pack appropriate amounts of water and/or food.
[edit] Finding the Cave
[edit] Doing Grill Cave
For diagrams of Grill cave, you will need to purchase a copy of 'Under Bungonia' by Julie and Peter Bauer from the Rangers Station (also available online [1]) for just under $50.
The diagrams are not absolutely necessary though, as it is easy enough to find your way through Grill cave and back out again. To go in to the cave, go in a generally 'downward' direction - to get out of the cave, go in a generally 'upward' direction. There are numerous ladders installed in Grill, and these are always a good sign that you are on the main path. Of course, be careful of the slippery surfaces and the sheer drops that are usually all around you as you descend.
There is a two part squeeze in one section of the cave. This can actually be avoided by climbing over the top of it - the cave actually splits up at this point and you can go two different directions, although they do join back up later. If you drop back down on the other side of the squeeze, than after a short crawl you reach 'The Mudslide', which, as fun as it sounds, doesn't really involve any sliding. It just looks like it should!
When you reach the "Caution Loose Boulders" sign, you are quite deep in the cave and you should certainly be checking for foul air, which is often found around, or shortly after this point. However, it may be found much earlier under certain circumstances. Use a lighter, matches or a candle to check to see if there is enough oxygen.
You should also be familiar with the physiological effects of O2 deficiency and CO2 poisoning so that you can react if you do find yourself in a low oxygen/high carbon dioxide environment unexpectedly (again, see the article on Foul air).
Exit from the cave simply involves climbing back up the way you came down.
