Juniper Gulf

Juniper Gulf is a classic Yorkshire Pothole, with its spectacular final pitch being regarded as one of if not the finest in the country. Its been on my ticklist for an embarssingly long time but events have always conspired against me.

So when I saw it on the meets list for the Northern Pennine Club this weekend I had to be there.
With 8 people heading down we decided to split into a rigging/photography team and a derigging team. So it was that George, Neil, Mark, Clive & myself set off from Greenclose at the crack of noon for the Allotment. With all the hype and expectations I had built up Juniper might have proved a disappointment but from the entrance pitch this cave is truly a gem.

George made short work of the rigging and we were soon past the “bad step” and down to the top of the final pitch – it was by the accounts of those there rather wet and Clive was a little disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to get the shots of the final pitch he wanted. Murmurs of its going to be very wet down there were swiftly ignored by me & I grabbed the tacke bag and headed on down the final pitch, it was a little damp but I managed to get to the bottom without drowning or freezing and bounced it, stopping for Clive to take some pics at the top of the pitch on the way up. Only Mark elected to bottom the pot as well while the others headed out. We were going to leave all but the final pitch rigged for the de-rigging team but with no sign of them we continued to derig. A good choice as it turns out as the derigging team turned around at the penultimate pitch and we did not see them until back at Greenclose.

I managed to get a couple of snapshots off and looking forward to seeing Clives pics.