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Nagasaki to Boundary Pot Route Description

In the centre of Nagasaki, follow the sandy pit in the floor (this has an in situ knotted handline as of March 2024) down to a streamway (Far East Passage). A short distance along this, a rising traverse gains a small alcove. At the back of the alcove, a narrow oxbow leads towards the Manhattan Connection. However, an easier route is to take an exposed step upwards from the alcove to continue the traverse above the streamway. This traverse level passes a hole in the floor before ending at the Manhattan Connection, a scaffolded climb.

Climb this, checking its integrity as you go, to emerge in the top of Hiroshima, a large boulder chamber. Turning right on exiting the climb, enter the chamber proper and descend it to the half-left, taking great care as the whole chamber is unstable. The exit to the chamber is in a noisy streamway. Crawl upstream in this past some fine false floors and attractive avens (care). The crawl briefly lowers before emerging in a very large chamber with a floor of small slippery rocks, Fusion Cavern.

Continue ahead in this chamber until you reach a steeply-ascending passage on the left; enter this. This passage passes a cross-rift, then emerges on a ledge into a large chamber. There is usually a noisy spout of water cascading in from the opposite side of the chamber. Instead of dropping to the floor, traverse along the right wall on the ledge to its end. Turning left to face the opposite wall, you will see an 8m tall, ascending, dry chute about a metre away. This is the bottom of a very exposed, but not-too-difficult free-climb.

Climb the chute to where its right side rises to a sharp edge. From this edge, a short step across to a boomerang-shaped outcrop leads onto a large ledge with some cobbles.

At the back of this large ledge is a 2m climb up into a short section of narrow crawling passage with a slightly awkward z-bend. This passage widens into a bedding plane and curves round to the right.

A few metres after the curve, a streamway enters from an obscure hole under the left wall (this may be dry or issuing a stream depending on conditions). Turning left under the wall to head upstream, the passage floor briefly lowers to a stooping height before rising again to a crawl. Soon after, water (possibly a lot of it) enters from above. Quickly crawl through this to arrive at the foot of a climb.

Climb the broken 5m climb to another crawl, heading right from the top. Follow this, passing a hole down to the right, to a junction. Take the left passage here, and emerge from the crawl into a chamber.

Turning slightly left across this, climb the easy 2m climb opposite and follow the crawl at the top into another chamber with daylight entering from above.

To the half-left across the chamber, a 2.5m climb leads into a flat-out crawl. This leads after a short distance to the exit.

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