Expedition Name (& Club): Hidden Dragon Exp (HMG)

Destination country: China
Region: Licang County, Yunnan Province

Lat: 23.3233 Long: 99.3266 Elevation: 0 m
MEF funding: none

Leader: Mr Rich Gerrish

Brief Expedition objectives:

List a short summary of the main Expedition objectives.

To continue following the leads left in Sigangli from the 2012 expeditions and reconnoitre more of the Tian Kengs in the surrounding area

Detailed description of objectives:

Give a more detailed account of the purpose of the trip, including any particular known caves you intend to visit, specific areas where you will explore for new cave, and scientific experiments you will attempt.

1. To begin exploration of the Hidden Dragon Resurgence. This was located on previous expeditions but was left unexplored due to lack of time, manpower or impossibly high water levels. Late March/early April should provide the lowest water levels during the whole year making it an ideal time to explore this cave.
2. To begin exploration of the major sink if possible. This has been sighted from the road but lies at the bottom of a very deep and steep sided valley. It has remained unexplored so far due to lack of time and manpower on previous expeditions.
3. To continue to follow and survey the upstream continuation of Sigangli. The volume of this stream indicates it may not be related to the major sink 850m to the South.
4. Continue to push the high level and downstream stream leads in Sigangli (the resurgence being some 3.8km away. This will involve bolt climbing to gain access to some of the high level passages seen previously.
5. A number of Tian Kengs have been already looked at (one of them dropped in the September 2012 expedition - blind) and work will continuing exploring these and reconnoitring for more in the surrounding area. A PDF of the area indicating sink, Sigangli, and resurgence along with a survey of Sigangli is included.

Previous work in this area:

Give details of any previous work in this area by your own and other teams. Include references to reports and articles published on the area, and the names of any local cavers or academics with whom you have discussed the Expedition.

Pete Talling and Liu Hong visited the area in Jan 2011 for a 3 day recognisance and found several Tian Kengs and had a brief look at Sigangli. Cave.

An Tian Keng dropping expedition of 6 planned for January 2012 fell through when Pete Talling dropped a rock on his foot in Myanmar in December 2011. A much reduced team of three, Richard Gerrish, Liu Hong and Lars Nielsen focussed their efforts instead on Sigangli. 3.5Km of cave passage was surveyed and ongoing leads inside the cave were documented. This team also recce'd the resurgence, sink and Tian Kengs to build up a better understanding of the area.

In September 2012 a larger expedition of 7 returned to drop one of the undescended Tian Kengs in the area. This was found to be blind so attention shifted to Sigangli. An upstream continuation of the stream in the cave was found but not surveyed. The volume and speed of water made exploration exceptionally difficult. High level leads were also gained through aid climbing and approximately 150m of passage was surveyed. The resurgence was revisited and the volume of water and draft exiting at this time of the year was confirmed as being of biblical proportions.