Not a bad month for caching, a total of 207 caches found in the month, a cracking weekend in the Lake District, and 6 FTF's.
Series completed this month:
Wheaton Aston Walk - a nice stroll around the countryside and along the canal.
Max's Favourite Walk - a figure of 8 around Packwood House
Jason's Jaunt - a beautiful walk in the Lakes near Staverley
Cleobury Country Wanderings - 5 caches near Cleobury Mortimer
Rambling Along The River Rea - one DNF (the clue, a number, appears twice, very annoying)
Hinchwick Valley - nice series of 7 caches
I also managed to (finally) complete the infuriating Big Kids Challenge near Pelsall.
I've also managed to fill in a couple of gaps on my D/T grid, and also completed a cache find on every calendar date in May.
Caches found at time of posting.....2168
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Thursday, 28 May 2009
An Evening in Bracknell
I'm away on business today and tomorrow, and I'm booked into the Hilton Hotel, Bracknell for the evening. Hopefully I can get away from work about 6pm, and after a quick change at the hotel, provided the weather is favourable, I'll be out caching for a couple of hours.
I've got plenty of choice, as there seems to be alot of new caches in the area since the last time I went hunting around here.
There is a series of 20+ caches in Swinley Forest by "Lord of the Cachers" which sounds good, although it would involve a walk of about 6 miles, but I've looked at them on the map and I could just do half of them.
There is also a series called "Sign of the Times" around here, that appears to be a multitude of nano's on the back of road signs, so if the weather is a bit iffy, that could come in handy!
I've got plenty of choice, as there seems to be alot of new caches in the area since the last time I went hunting around here.
There is a series of 20+ caches in Swinley Forest by "Lord of the Cachers" which sounds good, although it would involve a walk of about 6 miles, but I've looked at them on the map and I could just do half of them.
There is also a series called "Sign of the Times" around here, that appears to be a multitude of nano's on the back of road signs, so if the weather is a bit iffy, that could come in handy!
Lake District - Day Three
Despite the weather forecast predicting some rain, Bank Holiday Monday proved to be a nicer day than Sunday, with sunshine all day and temperatures in the low 20's.
After packing up the tent and the kit, we decided to head into Windermere, park the car, and do a bit of a leisurely circular walking, taking in the banks of the lake, and of course a few caches along the way.
Nothing more to report! Oh, my neck got sunburnt!
Caches found at end of trip.....2134
Caches found at time of post.....2137, courtesy of 3 new caches within a couple of miles of home.
After packing up the tent and the kit, we decided to head into Windermere, park the car, and do a bit of a leisurely circular walking, taking in the banks of the lake, and of course a few caches along the way.
Nothing more to report! Oh, my neck got sunburnt!
Caches found at end of trip.....2134
Caches found at time of post.....2137, courtesy of 3 new caches within a couple of miles of home.
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
The Lake District - Day Two
Day Two began nice and early with a hearty breakfast at the campsite, followed by a one and a half hour drive to Wasdale Head to the starting point of our trek to the summit of Scafell Pike.
The weather seemed to improve as we got closer, and when we arrived, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Lots of people around, and we only just about managed to park the car!
We were toying with the idea of going up to the top of Lingmell, and then across to Scafell Pike, but in the end we decided on the more conventional tourist approach, mainly so that I could grab The Path to Death or Glory on the way up.
I did find it, but on the way down, as a 10 minute search on the way up proved fruitless, and on the way down I found it straight away...isn't that always the way?
There were some fantastic views of Wast Water on the way up.
Finally, after almost four hours of steady climbing in the heat of the midday sun, we finally made it to the summit, where 2 more caches (one Trad, England's highest physical cache, and one Virtual, the highest cache in Engalnd) awaited us, along with the incredible views across the Lake District.
It was pretty busy on the top, must have been 200 people up there, and a constant stream of people leaving and arriving, we only just about managed a photo!
After a quick bite to eat and a drink, we started to make our way back down again. It's just as tough coming down, very hard on the knee joints!
Once back at the bottom, the day started to get weird. We were making a brew in the back of the Cachemobile, and a guy with his wife and two kids came up to us and asked us if we were camping at Wasdale, which obviously we weren't, and he asked us if we would give them a lift to the head of the valley so that they could get a bus back to their B&B near Keswick.
For those of you unfamiliar with Wasdale Head, it's a dead end up a 5 mile long road, and has no bus service! Apparently, some friends of theirs had told them they would meet them there and give them a lift, but they had called and let them down.
After a bit of a discussion, we decided that we could do far better than a lift to the bus stop, and as we were going to go for a bit of a drive anyway, we offered to take them back to their B&B, a journey of 15 miles in a straight line, but 43 miles on the road!
As we made our way north then east towards Keswick, somehow the conversation turned to geocaching, and the young lad, Daniel, seemed very keen, so I promised that when we got to their B&B, if there was a nearby cache, he could join me on the hunt. As luck would have it, a cache was to be found only 320ft from the car when we parked outside the B&B!
After a quick beer, Daniel and I plodded off to find the cache, and during our search his sister, Lucy, and his mother, Linda, joined in the search, and with 4 pairs of hands, the cache, HERRIES HOUSE - The Herries Chronicles, was soon found. I got Daniel to sign the log, and gave him the GC code and some brief instructions on how to join up and log the find....I have the cache on the watchlist!!!!
We returned to the bar, and said our goodbyes, but not before Mike presented us with a very nice bottle of red wine as recompense for our kindness! Nice one!!
An interesting day! At the end of it, I'd climbed the highest peak in England, found 5 caches (two more boxes filled in on the D/T grid), and met some interesting people!
I also realised whilst at Wasdale Head that I found the cache at Wasdale Head Inn last year, and forgot to log it, so that has now been rectified.
Caches found at the end of Day Two.....2128.
The weather seemed to improve as we got closer, and when we arrived, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Lots of people around, and we only just about managed to park the car!
We were toying with the idea of going up to the top of Lingmell, and then across to Scafell Pike, but in the end we decided on the more conventional tourist approach, mainly so that I could grab The Path to Death or Glory on the way up.
I did find it, but on the way down, as a 10 minute search on the way up proved fruitless, and on the way down I found it straight away...isn't that always the way?
There were some fantastic views of Wast Water on the way up.
Finally, after almost four hours of steady climbing in the heat of the midday sun, we finally made it to the summit, where 2 more caches (one Trad, England's highest physical cache, and one Virtual, the highest cache in Engalnd) awaited us, along with the incredible views across the Lake District.
It was pretty busy on the top, must have been 200 people up there, and a constant stream of people leaving and arriving, we only just about managed a photo!After a quick bite to eat and a drink, we started to make our way back down again. It's just as tough coming down, very hard on the knee joints!
Once back at the bottom, the day started to get weird. We were making a brew in the back of the Cachemobile, and a guy with his wife and two kids came up to us and asked us if we were camping at Wasdale, which obviously we weren't, and he asked us if we would give them a lift to the head of the valley so that they could get a bus back to their B&B near Keswick.
For those of you unfamiliar with Wasdale Head, it's a dead end up a 5 mile long road, and has no bus service! Apparently, some friends of theirs had told them they would meet them there and give them a lift, but they had called and let them down.
After a bit of a discussion, we decided that we could do far better than a lift to the bus stop, and as we were going to go for a bit of a drive anyway, we offered to take them back to their B&B, a journey of 15 miles in a straight line, but 43 miles on the road!
As we made our way north then east towards Keswick, somehow the conversation turned to geocaching, and the young lad, Daniel, seemed very keen, so I promised that when we got to their B&B, if there was a nearby cache, he could join me on the hunt. As luck would have it, a cache was to be found only 320ft from the car when we parked outside the B&B!
After a quick beer, Daniel and I plodded off to find the cache, and during our search his sister, Lucy, and his mother, Linda, joined in the search, and with 4 pairs of hands, the cache, HERRIES HOUSE - The Herries Chronicles, was soon found. I got Daniel to sign the log, and gave him the GC code and some brief instructions on how to join up and log the find....I have the cache on the watchlist!!!!
We returned to the bar, and said our goodbyes, but not before Mike presented us with a very nice bottle of red wine as recompense for our kindness! Nice one!!
An interesting day! At the end of it, I'd climbed the highest peak in England, found 5 caches (two more boxes filled in on the D/T grid), and met some interesting people!
I also realised whilst at Wasdale Head that I found the cache at Wasdale Head Inn last year, and forgot to log it, so that has now been rectified.
Caches found at the end of Day Two.....2128.
The Lake District - Day One
We arose early (well, early for us anyway) at 7am, loaded the X-Trail up and set off for the Lakes around 8am.
Following a brief "comfort break" at Sandbach Services (there was a cache there, obviously), and after battling our way through the Bank Holiday traffic, we finally arrived at the campsite just after noon.
Got the tent up in double quick time, and then realised that Julie had brought the pump for the air bed, but not the adaptor to plug it into the car!!!!! Luckily the guy setting up his tent next to us had one, and he kindly loaned it to me.
Had a quick brew, and as planned, made a short drive to Staveley to have a crack at the Jason's Jaunt series of caches, based on Jason and The Argonauts. I'd planned these in advance, and from the listings they seemed as though they may be tricky, as they were all micros except for the final bonus cache. As it turned out, all the micros were contained in a further container, that made them far easier to find, and we managed to find every single one, although a couple still needed a bit of a search. Managed to pick a further cache up that wasn't in the series, but was on the route, making 13 caches in all for the day, not a bad start for the weekend.
We got back to the car around 6.30pm, and got the kit out for a well-earned brew and a bite to eat, closely followed by an early night ready for our assault on Scafell Pike in the morning!
Unfortunately, the air bed decided to slowly deflate through the night, and we woke up on a cold hard floor.....never mind....
Report on Day Two to follow.
Total caches found at the end of Day One......2123.
Following a brief "comfort break" at Sandbach Services (there was a cache there, obviously), and after battling our way through the Bank Holiday traffic, we finally arrived at the campsite just after noon.
Got the tent up in double quick time, and then realised that Julie had brought the pump for the air bed, but not the adaptor to plug it into the car!!!!! Luckily the guy setting up his tent next to us had one, and he kindly loaned it to me.
Had a quick brew, and as planned, made a short drive to Staveley to have a crack at the Jason's Jaunt series of caches, based on Jason and The Argonauts. I'd planned these in advance, and from the listings they seemed as though they may be tricky, as they were all micros except for the final bonus cache. As it turned out, all the micros were contained in a further container, that made them far easier to find, and we managed to find every single one, although a couple still needed a bit of a search. Managed to pick a further cache up that wasn't in the series, but was on the route, making 13 caches in all for the day, not a bad start for the weekend.
We got back to the car around 6.30pm, and got the kit out for a well-earned brew and a bite to eat, closely followed by an early night ready for our assault on Scafell Pike in the morning!
Unfortunately, the air bed decided to slowly deflate through the night, and we woke up on a cold hard floor.....never mind....
Report on Day Two to follow.
Total caches found at the end of Day One......2123.
Friday, 22 May 2009
Lake District Here We Come!
I'm a bit over-excited today! A long weekend, a trip to The Lakes, Scafell Pike, and of course a few caches along the way!
We'll be up early in the morning so that we can get pitched at noon and spend the afternoon doing a series near Staverley, then a bit of pub grub followed by an early night. Up early on Sunday for the ascent of Scafell Pike so that I can complete my set of highest caches in England, Wales and Scotland at long last.
The weather forecast has been getting progressively better as the weekend draws nearer, the forecast for Sunday is almost cloud free, so we should get some great views as we climb.
Full report upon my return!
Caches found at time of posting......2110
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Chased.....by Chickens
Over the years, I've been chased by cows on many an occasion, once by an irate farmer, and even once by some sheep with an attitude problem, but today, a definite first....we were chased by chickens.We spent the day cocooned in waterproofs due to the persistent rain, and tottered around Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire in the process of grabbing 16 caches.
I didn't take many photos today, as it really was raining all day, except for the last hour when we got chased by chickens!
Nothing more to report, caches were OK, mostly micros, mostly easy, some good walking despite the rain!
Completed a series of 10 caches along the river Rea, then a small series of 5 through the countryside, and grabbed a couple of available ones en-route.
We had one DNF, which I think has gone missing, and one nano I nearly gave up on. Just as I was fiddling with the Oregon for the next cache, Julie cried "There it is!"....smug....
And here are the chickens, chasing us.....
Caches found at time of posting.....2097.
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