I was really curious about this cave - I heard and read about it many times.
So, when only we got the chance, we decided to join a group that planned a night trip there.
The hike to Kominiarski Wierch went quite quickly - a very nice trip.
However, when we got to the top we started looking for the entrance (nobody in the group had been here earlier).
After more than an hour of searching in the tall grass and bushes it started to get dark
and the chances of finding the hole were rapidly dropping.
Fortunately, when I was a bit higher than the rest if found a path leading uphill.
It turned out that this path leads to the entrance (although the entrance was several hundred meters farther than anybody thought).
We quickly changed our clothes and went inside.
It's obvious right away that the cave is not visited often. The system of passages is very interesting
and very complicated - we had some problems with navigation (even though we had the map from the register).
That was on the way down. On the way up, on the other hand, other things started hindering us: the time (very early morning) and squeezes.
I had a lot of problems with one of the vertical squeezes (and how easy it was on the way down!).
The second one is not strictly a squeeze, but my gear caught on some rock.
It was hard for me to go back down so I unbuckled the harness thinking that I will recover it after I get out of the squeeze.
But this didn't help at all - the harness got stuck on my legs.
But finally I managed the wriggle out of it.
We went down to the Basilica although our plans were a bit more ambitious.
On the other hand, this was our first trip to this cave, so maybe that wasn't so bad after all
(and 60% of the group didn't have much experience in caving yet).
But night trips aren't that fun as I thought - when climbing on the way up
I almost fell asleep (sometime about 3 a.m.). And this obviously
is not the safest way of doing things.
Moreover, being so sleepy and tired, you don't enjoy the cave very much - you don't feel like looking around, looking for passages, etc.
Or de-rigging tightly tied knots - that was just awful.
The return trip took us through Stoly (The Tables) and Dolina Lejowa (Lejowa Valley) - that valley never seemed to me to be this long!
One wants to get to bed as soon as possible, but here comes another turn, and another, and another... :-)
After getting back to base we went to sleep right away; but just after a couple of hours we woke up
fresh and ready for action... - the return trip to the capital.
I was really curious about this cave - I heard and read about it many times.
So, when only we got the chance, we decided to join a group that planned a night trip there.
The hike to Kominiarski Wierch went quite quickly - a very nice trip.
However, when we got to the top we started looking for the entrance (nobody in the group had been here earlier).
After more than an hour of searching in the tall grass and bushes it started to get dark
and the chances of finding the hole were rapidly dropping.
Fortunately, when I was a bit higher than the rest if found a path leading uphill.
It turned out that this path leads to the entrance (although the entrance was several hundred meters farther than anybody thought).
We quickly changed our clothes and went inside.
It's obvious right away that the cave is not visited often. The system of passages is very interesting
and very complicated - we had some problems with navigation (even though we had the map from the register).
That was on the way down. On the way up, on the other hand, other things started hindering us: the time (very early morning) and squeezes.
I had a lot of problems with one of the vertical squeezes (and how easy it was on the way down!).
The second one is not strictly a squeeze, but my gear caught on some rock.
It was hard for me to go back down so I unbuckled the harness thinking that I will recover it after I get out of the squeeze.
But this didn't help at all - the harness got stuck on my legs.
But finally I managed the wriggle out of it.
We went down to the Basilica although our plans were a bit more ambitious.
On the other hand, this was our first trip to this cave, so maybe that wasn't so bad after all
(and 60% of the group didn't have much experience in caving yet).
But night trips aren't that fun as I thought - when climbing on the way up
I almost fell asleep (sometime about 3 a.m.). And this obviously
is not the safest way of doing things.
Moreover, being so sleepy and tired, you don't enjoy the cave very much - you don't feel like looking around, looking for passages, etc.
Or de-rigging tightly tied knots - that was just awful.
The return trip took us through Stoly (The Tables) and Dolina Lejowa (Lejowa Valley) - that valley never seemed to me to be this long!
One wants to get to bed as soon as possible, but here comes another turn, and another, and another... :-)
After getting back to base we went to sleep right away; but just after a couple of hours we woke up
fresh and ready for action... - the return trip to the capital.
2004-06-26 Bandzioch Kominiarski
See also the cave's description on Epimenides (in Polish).
[MJT] Getting our gear ready before the trip (base at Mrs. Glizda)
[MJT] Getting our gear ready before the trip (base at Mrs. Glizda)
[MJT] The last meal before heading into the mountains
[MJT] The last meal before heading into the mountains
[MJT] On the way to the top...
[MJT] On the way to the top...
[MUT] A quick rest with a view of the Organs and Ciemniak
[MUT] A quick rest with a view of the Organs and Ciemniak
[MJT] Another quick rest (but where???)
[MJT] Another quick rest (but where???)
[MJT] Fiodor is obviously missing something in his erotic life...
[MJT] Fiodor is obviously missing something in his erotic life...
[MJT] In the Basilica
[MJT] In the Basilica
[MJT] The exit from the Basilica
[MJT] The exit from the Basilica
[MJT] Outside in the morning - but this site hurt our eyes more than the Sun!
[MJT] Outside in the morning - but this site hurt our eyes more than the Sun!
[MUT] All in all, it was a lot of fun
[MUT] All in all, it was a lot of fun
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