Trip report: Lower Orange Grove
My buddy and I went to Lower Orange Grove today (Sunday 5/9/2010). Vis in the cavern was poor due to algae bloom and the ubiquitous duckweed. While the duckweed is normally not a problem- and I have seen crystal-clear infinite vis from the cave entrance to the surface before- the algae bloom was horrible. No problem, though, as we were heading to the deep section. Vis was actually quite good when reached 164' before the line goes back up to begin the loop. I would estimate 40-50' of clear sight right when we began the loop. We started off to the left and after the second tie-off on the main line, I noticed that the line was buried within the silt and seemed further than normal to the right (inner) side of the tunnel as we were going in. We were diving air and since I had not been there in over 6 years, I didn't put much thought into it, even though it seemed strange. I thought it just might have been slight narcosis that had me concerned. After the second line arrow and second tie-off (about 150' to 200' from the split) I knew that something was definitely amiss. I was hugging the ceiling and going painfully slow to try to keep from kicking up silt. This effort was unsuccessful and we had to keep our fingers around the line throughout. My buddy was about 15' behind me when I peeked backward to see a nice fluffy cloud enveloping him. After about another 25' I saw ahead of me a loop capturing a line arrow along the straight main line. This was obviously an old tie-off that had come loose from whatever rock it was tied to. Realizing the problem, I tried to swim the line back to the left (outer) wall over to its original position, but my buddy could not see anything and kept a death-grip on the line, forcing me to give up my effort to move the line back to the left wall. This was his first time in Lower Orange Grove, he was already dealing with zero vis for about :10, and I did not want to pause on the line and create a traffic jam in zero vis adding to his stress level, so I moved back to the right side of the cave (where there may have been 2' from silt to ceiling) and just kept on going, turning around and waiting only once to ensure I saw the glow from his dive light and that he could see mine as well. I then proceeded to swim the last 50' until we got to the bigger section at the next right-hand bend. I stopped and he was right behind me just then leaving my silt cloud. I did not attempt to go back and retrieve the line to place it back in its original placement (from where I remembered it being 6 years ago). We continued the dive uneventfully and made our exit with no problems. I want anyone who is contemplating a trip to Lower Orange Grove to keep that existing line placement in mind before they commit. I would recommend entering the loop from the right side and trying to lift the line from the silt and reattaching it to the right (outer) side of the wall (left side if you decide to go from that direction at the start of the loop). In normal circumstances I would have attempted to correct the line during this dive but did not want to create an undue stressful situation leaving my buddy behind while I went back into the silt cloud. Even then, it would have been extremely difficult to effectively place it back where it needed to be under the silty condition. Just keep in mind what you will have to contend with if you decide to do Lower Orange Grove. This line needs to be reattached and I doubt I will be back there for well over a month or more to do it.
Pirate Skull in Lower Orange
Quote:
Originally Posted by
saturation
BTW, how long has the toy pirate skull been in the entrance to LLOG? It was my first time here, but the skull just sits there, so it must remain relatively undisturbed for some time.
http://www.divetraining.net/pictures...3/IMG_0045.jpg
I noticed it when I was there about three weeks ago.....
Trip report: Lower Orange Grove
Orange Grove to Challedge.
Dove Orange Grove on the 16th. Basin a green tint. System clear with a slight flow. Water temp 69 degrees. Great Vis. As far as your light would shine.
Went up to the main tunnel leading to Woody's Room right before Challedge. Jumped off on line leading toward Woody's Room.
Went a few hundred feet on this jump.
A pretty tunnel. Smaller passage than Main Tunnel. Line very loose. No double arrows marking jump.
Set of double arrows at another tunnel that leads to Woody's Room but couldn't find any line in this passage.
110 minutes
Setpoint 1.2
Max Depth 67'
One OC team ahead of us in Lower Orange Grove?
One 3 man CCR team after us. A lot of traffic heading to Peacock 1 and 3.
Safe Diving
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