Adam (UKCacheMag) and I have decided to go to the UK Mega at Cartmel in 4 weeks time, and I thought that such a prestigious gathering would make a suitable milestone cache for my 2,000th cache find., which only left the problem that I had to find another 108 caches before then ! Only 27 caches per week… I can manage that (I hope !)
So when a new cache series ‘Around Sharrow’ appeared near Ripon 15 miles away, 15 caches in a 2.5 mile circuit it seemed an ideal way to start towards the 108, and as it was a pleasant Saturday evening it seemed like an opportune time to go and do it
14th July 2012 – AS#1 One for Lionel Blair? GC3PNZV – cache #1892
I parked in the suggested place and set off down the road… as I walked along I was trying to work out the hint (which said ‘it’s cryptically in the title’ and had a thought that Lionel Blair is a tap-dancer so the hint may have something to do with a tap… and when I got to the cache site I found I was correct
14th July 2012 – AS#2 And the birds up on the wires….. GC3PP0Y – cache #1893
A narrow road with a GPS signal that wasn’t great under the trees at one side and in close proximity to the buildings on the other. I stopped to check the GPS at the last place where I could get off the road and so be safe from traffic and although the GPS still said I was 17 feet away I did notice that I was stood next to a telegraph pole, so I checked around it’s base and found the cache
14th July 2012 – Sanctuary for Suzie GC3A96F – cache #1894
I’ve said it many times before… It’s always nice when there is a convenient bench to sit on and sign the log… This cache is at a bench next to the remains of a stone cross whose relevance is set out on the sign
14th July 2012 – AS#3 Ure on your way… GC3PP1C – cache #1895
My GPS was a bit erratic under the trees, so I just searched every one until I found the cache
14th July 2012 – AS#4 Big Log GC3PP1K – cache #1896
Despite the warnings I carried on along the riverside to the next cache, easy to find as I just followed the cachers trail from the footpath to the cache
After this I didn’t find GC3PP1Q AS#5 One of Bill’s? – The GPS was jumping about all over the place giving me about a 10 ft radius to search, and I had to limit my time searching in order to get around the series before it got dark, so this was a DNF for me
14th July 2012 – AS#6 Big tree GC3PP1W – cache #1897
A black cache in a black hidey-hole in the dark shadows under the trees… but I spotted it eventually
14th July 2012 – AS#7 Recorded by Sir Stirling? GC3PPER – cache #1898
I worked out I was looking for something covered in moss, and there was a big tree trunk green with the stuff so it was a quick find, but I did manage to get nettled retrieving the box
14th July 2012 – AS#8 Gone fishing? GC3PR1Z – cache #1899
One where the apparent cachers trail led me astray as it took me towards a big tree on one side of the path where the cache was hidden behind a fence post on the other… in another bed of nettles
14th July 2012 – AS#9 One for the birds? GC3PR21 – cache #1900
The last cache along the riverbank and at first I discounted the trees on the banking as cache sites as here the banking was quite steep. However looking around I spotted a bird feeder apparently stuck on one of the trees and wondered why someone would put one of those there… then I realised it must be the cache ! I gave it a favourite point as it was my 1,900th cache find.
14th July 2012 – AS#10 Another one of Bill’s? GC3PR2C – cache #1901
A straightforward find – hidden behind a gate post
14th July 2012 – As#11 In defence GC3PR6Q – cache #1902
As I walked along I spotted a place just off the path where all the grass had been flattened so I guessed this was by previous cachers and quickly found the cache… I was hoping that the sign wasn’t a portent of things to come
14th July 2012 – AS#12 Postscript GC3PR6Z – cache #1903
The track from here did get a little wet in places with large puddles but there were deep wheel ruts meaning that the central grassy portion was in the main out of the water. This cache was in another nettle bed behind another gatepost, and the wet summer has really been good growing conditions for nettles
14th July 2012 – AS#13 Pitt the elder GC3PR73 – cache #1904
It was getting very gloomy by the time I got here, (well it was 9:30pm) and I was glad I had my little keyring torch to seach the hedge bottom for the cache with
14th July 2012 – AS#14 Bruce Willis sings? GC3PR76 – cache #1905
Well somewhere at home there is a copy of the ‘Return of Bruno’ album, so I did know what song Bruce Willis sang and so what to look for… however the cache was across a low lying field which was in reality just a marsh and the difficulty was getting from the style to the cache without sinking into the bog… in the end I took a wide circular route around the worst of it and approached the cache from the other end.
14th July 2012 – Chris’ view GC39WV8 – cache #1906
It wasn’t quite fully dark when I had finished the Sharrow series so I thought I’d pop up to this one as it was just up the road… when I got to the co-ordinates I found a bench which I searched all round and found nothing, so I sat on the bench, pondered the clue – which said something about sit on the bench and admire the view… the view is of a thin tree just the other side of the path and then the field stretching out down the slope… then the answer came to me and I found the cache
