March 13th 2010 – Trouble in the woods GC1D8M6 – Cache #261
One thing I have not really got my head around yet is that caching takes me far longer than it should. It’s not the finding of the cache, well not always, but take this cache. It was pretty clear where it was anc should have been very easy and quick to do except that I didn’t know exactly where I could park so I ended up walking 5 minutes each way more than I needed to, then I could see where the cache was but had to loiter around for several minutes for the hordes of dog walkers to clear so I could retrieve the cache unseen. All in all this cache took over 20 minutes from parking to driving away, it should have taken about five.
March 13th 2010 – holey tree GC16F69 – Cache #262
As it was Saturday and there was so many people about I decided on a change of plan, I had planned to do a few caches around the Valley Gardens in Harrogate, but there were just too many people about, so I opted for Plan B and went a couple of miles away for a walk along a bit of the Harrogate Ringway, the first cache Ringway Wonder GC152E0 I didn’t find, mainly because it seems that the co-ords are about 30 feet out and the clue says hidden behind a tree, which as the path is tree lined doesn’t help a right lot ! Anyway the next cache on the path is this one, hidden in a hollow tree – as the name implies, but to get the cache you have to pull the string. Unfortunately this was a cache where I couldn’t sign the log – it was too wet, which is a little surprising as the cache pot should be fairly rainproof, it must have been sat in a puddle at the bottom of the hollow to get wet.
Pull the string for the cache
March 13th 2010 – Search for a Sample GC150KE – Cache #263
A medical sample tube, hidden in a hole in the ground, covered by a stone about the size of an old 50p piece. This took a couple of minutes to find, as I got to where the GPS said and I was in the middle of a field, so I cast around for a bit looking for a likely spot – a nearby tree, the wall etc. but they were really too far away. So I returned to where the GPS said and found the cache. The reason I found it was cos the last person to find it (the previous weekend) had left it’s covering stone the wrong way up, so the clean side was up and the weathered side down. It just looked wrong, so I found the cache, and replaced the stone weathered side up so as not to make it easy for those following me !
March 13th 2010 – Living Bridge GCRA1F – Cache #264
Not quite sure what this Living Bridge means, the cache is hidden in a holly bush in the middle of a wood
March 13th 2010 – Weir’s the Weir? GC16ZYJ – Cache #265
Wier’s the wier ? ermm it’s not a wier, it’s the remains of a sluice gate, under a disused railway viaduct. There are many of these monuments to victorian engineering around the country, now disused, but not crumbling as they were built to last !
Disused viaduct above the mill site
March 13th 2010 – Stone Rings Bug Hotel (A61 Leeds Rd, Harrogate) GCPQKX – Cache #266
You have to get your feet wet for this as it’s hidden under a bridge that takes the path over a small stream. This was the last cache of the morning.
At this cache I dropped off the Cyril the Skiing Squirrel Travel Bug
March 13th 2010 – Stroll with a Troll in Leathley GC1W3RH – Cache #267
After lunch I set out again, this time to the local village of Leathely and did a couple of caches around there. This first one was a short walk and an easy find, hidden under a rock
March 13th 2010 – Tracks in Leathley GC1W3RT – Cache #268
This was a puzzle cache, the actual co-ordinates were the engine numbers of named diesel engines… I think I got the idea for my first cache – using engine numbers from this.
It was a stroll from the car to the cache site, on a path with fields of lambs either side. The cache, hidden in the base of a tree, under a rock
From this cache I collected the Travel Bug The Traveling Bear TB2RTKX
At this cache I dropped off the Future Geocoin
Ermm, where’s the cache ?
March 13th 2010 – ?..?.. K.O.M..?..? GCZYWH – Cache #269
A two part multi cache, first find the micro which contains the co-ordinates of the final. Was easy except as I was looking for the micro a farmer came along and watched me closely as he turned onto the track… walked down to the cache and there by it was another farmer mending the fence, and his wife came along in another 4×4 with a flask of tea and they sat and had a picnic about 30 feet from the cache… fortunately the actual cache was behind a tree so they couldn’t see me there, but they were watching me as I searched around for it.
At this cache I dropped off the Football Frenzy Travel Bug
March 13th 2010 – Rudolph’s Nose GC17KR1 – Cache #270
A nicely hidden cache in a hollow branch that you reach by using what the description calls an “exciting stile”
As well as the log this contains the co-ordinates to the second part of the multi cache
The Exciting stile
March 13th 2010 – Santa’s Crash GC17KRW – Cache #271
The second part of the multicache is not far away from the first, however it is not clear how to get to it without crossing barbed wire fences or climbing over a high wall… I opted for the wall ! The cache itself is a big ammo box hidden in the middle of a patch of gorse bushes… you do get rather prickled with gorse as you crawl in to retrieve and replace it !
At this cache I dropped off the Morse Travel Bug
March 13th 2010 – Curse of the FTF Wharfedale #11 GC24X98 – Cache #272
This cache is on the path between the suggested parking spot and the Rudolph’s nose cache, I had a brief look for it on my way to the cache, but couldn’t see it and didn’t want to spend too long as it was getting gloomy and I wanted to get the other two found as they were farther away from the car for if I had to come back at a later date.
But anyway, as it happened on the way back I clicked in the clue and found the cache inside it’s novel container.
March 14th 2010 – Extreme Chevin GC1NERK – Cache #273
The next day I was running some errands and happened to be passing the car park near this cache, when I had done all the other caches in this area I had had to miss this one due to a gang of youths smoking and drinking on the rocks where the cache was hid, no problem this time, well apart from the climb up and down to the cache site !
Ropes and pitons could be a good option