Peacock to Orange traverse

[chilldive]

Feeling lazy always doing long range scooter dives. Thinking about doing the Peacock to Orange traverse. Would like to hear from those who have done it. How did you set it up - ie plan it. Looking for thoughts, advice, etc. Got my own ideas, but always good to hear from the voices of experience.

Obviously, after a person is very familiar with the system and has done this a few times, they will approach in a different manner than they did the very first time they did it. I'd like to hear from the perspective of setting up this dive for the first time.

(BTW, I've been in this system many times and have done most of the circuits, etc. Just haven't done the Grand Tour yet).

[LiteHedded]

I'd go from orange grove to peacock. ur swimming with the flow for a big chunk of the dive if you do it that way.
i'd follow the gold line all the way through all the sinks so i could pop up and take a break every once in a while as opposed to jumping to the peanut line.
generally if you hit orange grove before thirds you're good to go for the whole way.

[deanme]

I’ve done the Grand Traverse about 15 times. One of my favorite dives.

The first few times, I took a stage bottle with me. Now I don’t take any stage, but I dive 120’s. you can drop your stage in Challenge. Be sure and not drop your stage on some divers.

If you can make the 1800 feet to Challenge on thirds, you can easily make it to Olsen and then to P1. I think Challenge to Olsen is 1400 feet, and a little less from Olsen to P1. I like to pop up in both Challenge and in Olsen for a few minutes to share my dive with my buddy and relax a bit.

The dive from Challenge to the Peanut restriction is one of my favorite and least dove parts of the cave. Very big, but a bit dark from tannin. This traverse is very easy from a navigation perspective, because you simply follow the mainline the whole way. There are jumps in Challenge and in Olsen, but sometimes these jumps have a temporary permanent line. The last two times I dove the Grand Traverse (last dive was about 3 weeks ago) I saw a temporary / permanent line from the Peanut restriction to the mainline.

Be sure and have a key for one of the cars you leave at P1. More than once, we forget that and had to hitch a ride to Orange Grove.

The dive to Challenge takes about 45 minutes; from Challenge to Olsen about 35 minutes; and from Olsen to P1 about 35 minutes. If you dive wet, you can pee along the way. If you dive dry, be sure and have everything in order. the whole dive, including pop-ups, is about 2 hours.

Be sure and know where the line begins in Orange Grove. Otherwise you will waste valuable gas finding it.

[LiteHedded]

I’ve done the Grand Traverse about 15 times. One of my favorite dives.

The first few times, I took a stage bottle with me. Now I don’t take any stage, but I dive 120’s. you can drop your stage in Challenge. Be sure and not drop your stage on some divers.

If you can make the 1800 feet to Challenge on thirds, you can easily make it to Olsen and then to P1. I think Challenge to Olsen is 1400 feet, and a little less from Olsen to P1. I like to pop up in both Challenge and in Olsen for a few minutes to share my dive with my buddy and relax a bit.

The dive from Challenge to the Peanut restriction is one of my favorite and least dove parts of the cave. Very big, but a bit dark from tannin. This traverse is very easy from a navigation perspective, because you simply follow the mainline the whole way. There are jumps in Challenge and in Olsen, but sometimes these jumps have a temporary permanent line. The last two times I dove the Grand Traverse (last dive was about 3 weeks ago) I saw a temporary / permanent line from the Peanut restriction to the mainline.

Be sure and have a key for one of the cars you leave at P1. More than once, we forget that and had to hitch a ride to Orange Grove.

The dive to Challenge takes about 45 minutes; from Challenge to Olsen about 35 minutes; and from Olsen to P1 about 35 minutes. If you dive wet, you can pee along the way. If you dive dry, be sure and have everything in order. the whole dive, including pop-ups, is about 2 hours.

Be sure and know where the line begins in Orange Grove. Otherwise you will waste valuable gas finding it.

did it in my cave class. instructor made us walk back...

[deanme]

Forgot to mention. On 32%, depending on pace, you typically don’t go into deco before hitting P1, but if you do, it is only about 5 minutes of deco. I like to drop a 100% bottle in P1, which usually lands close to the beginning of the Olsen line. If you see someone in the P1 parking lot, you can ask them to tie off the 100% bottle to the line to make sure it is out of the way.

Go slow and have fun. I always like when my buddy is ok with a slow pace. I like to look around and peek down some of the many side tunnels.

[cavediver27]

Like the others have said, it's best to go from Orange Grove to Peacock. One of the main reasons is that you have more emergency exits available for the last half of the swim when your gas supply is more limited. With any kind of a decent SAC rate you won't need a stage. This can be easily done with 85's and a cave fill. If you don't hit thirds by Challenge just recalculate thirds and you should be good to go. If you had any problems past Challenge you have lots of options. You have Olsen, Pot Hole, or return to Challenge.

[chilldive]

Be sure and have a key for one of the cars you leave at P1. More than once, we forget that and had to hitch a ride to Orange Grove.

Hmmm... Good indirect thought. We'll only have one vehicle. That means someone is hiking or hitching.

[jj1987]

You can use 2 stages and go both ways if you're feeling guilty for being lazy....we did it that way to avoid having to do a setup dive or visual gaps. It's a loooong swim and I don't see myself EVER doing that again!

[chilldive]

You can use 2 stages and go both ways if you're feeling guilty for being lazy....we did it that way to avoid having to do a setup dive or visual gaps. It's a loooong swim and I don't see myself EVER doing that again!

Wow. I think the walk back to the car would be the lessor of those two evils. I've done the trip from Peacock to Challenge and back - that was bad enough. You're talkin' adding about 3600' more feet to that swim - ouch. I think if I did that, I'd never get off a scooter again!

[chilldive]

Like the others have said, it's best to go from Orange Grove to Peacock. One of the main reasons is that you have more emergency exits available for the last half of the swim when your gas supply is more limited. With any kind of a decent SAC rate you won't need a stage. This can be easily done with 85's and a cave fill. If you don't hit thirds by Challenge just recalculate thirds and you should be good to go. If you had any problems past Challenge you have lots of options. You have Olsen, Pot Hole, or return to Challenge.

I agree on gas supply. I've gone from Peacock to Challenge on 1/3's, so no worries there. I'll be in LP-104's or HP-130's with cave fill.

Can a person really get up the Pot Hole?