Guido and Betty had extended an invitation to a bigger group for Sunday. The canyon, if you can call it that, is called Donini. Though done by canyoneers, it is really more of a cave, and really fun. The group swelled Sunday from the 4 of us to 8. Everyone was smiles as a stove and coffee maker were produced at the trailhead. Coffee was made, breakfast served, and gear sorted and readied.
A 10 minute approach led us to a small hole in the ground. Cristina and I had considered doing Donnini 4 years ago while in the area, but had backed out due to lack of heavy wetsuits. This trip, Guido had gone out of his way to help us borrow a couple of 5mm suits. Though finding one for Cristina was relatively easy, it is not easy to find a wetsuit in Sardinia to fit a corn fed 6’2" Wyoming boy, but he managed too… (And a huge thanks to Luca who’s suit I ended up borrowing.)
The first rappel, a short one down the small hole leads to a bit of squeezing and couple of more short rappels before the cave opens in a big way. Think 100’+ high ceilings, HUGE underground lakes, and amazing formations. The group uses similiar, but somewhat different rigging techniques than I am used to it. It is interesting to see the different techniques. Everyone in the group has attended canyoning courses, and is highly skilled.
It is 4 hours or so of spelunking before we finally reach daylight again. The cave is beautiful. Even though I don’t fully understand the language, it is a fun group, with much kidding and joking around. Ah, some things are universal, it is similiar in atmosphere to a canyon day back in the US.
