Main Drain

February 17-18 2007 - Peter Hartley

Trip Leader: Peter Hartley On Trip: Peter Hartley, Mike Frazier, Carl Bern, John Cox, Dave LIddell We ran a trip into MD late Saturday through early Sunday to take in equipment for the March mapping trip. I, Mike Frazier and Carl Bern from Colorado were in the cave, John Cox and Dave Liddell from Logan did surface support and bivouacked in Snow Cone overnight. Most of the work was done using one rented two up sled which took the gear up to Twin Sink area. Slab avalanche danger was considerable this weekend so Snow Cone was approached from the left through the trees and needed about ten feet of digging to enter. Main Drain was approached from the right by a gradual ascent and was cleared by digging a six foot deep trench from the belay tree to the lip of the pit. Pika cave had too much steep snow to be reached so we changed at the entrance itself. We had superb weather so this was not a problem. The slope across to Snow Cone from Main Drain was too dangerous to consider under these conditions although with better snow it might be easier to change in Snow Cone. Alternatively we might take a short rope to allow us to drop into Pika for shelter. The top two entrance bolts were clear of snow and we took in a shovel and cleared loose snow from the 'throat' of the shaft. The only issue we had was that the lower half of the pit below the ledge is festooned with icicles which had to be cleared. The cave is dry up to the top of Leakey Faucet but beyond that was fairly wet. Surprisingly the cave is still taking a little air. We assumed this was a result of the inversion and 50 degree temperatures last week. Hopefully March will be cooler and drier. Several days' food, gas, a stove, a sleeping pad and two dye detectors were left at the foot of Kilo pit and the two bivouac sacs from the foot of Frayed Knot were left there also. Be warned, there is no spoon. The brew kit at the foot of Frayed Knot is still functional but low on gas. We left a 200' rope at Neff's inlet junction. Checked out the final sump but although lower than in summer. It is still over ten feet deep and needs scuba. The inlet stream in the final chamber was not running so this is obviously a different stream from Neff's inlet. Returning to Deeper than Neff's pit we found is still taking a lot of water. We took a 100' rope and pushed up the inlet for almost an hour and a half to the old limit of exploration. A short climb was scaled and rigged with rope and a quick reconnaissance made of the passage that followed. It continues in the same fashion as a sizable meander passing under at least one high lead. Mapping and pushing this passage will be the main objective of the March trip. The high climbing leads can wait until summer. Overall the trip took about fifteen hours and we were lucky to have good weather on both days. Still a little uncertain where is best to camp. The floor at the foot of Kilo pit is not level but it is a good place to cook because of water. One option is to cook there but sleep higher, up in the room at the top of the Kilo pit or alternatively to move camp up into the rooms along Kilo inlet.