27/11/10 - The Lenches in the Snow

Distance - 11.5 Miles
Number of Caches - 26 (24 found)
Starting cache - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=8596ba45-5497-4ae8-860c-29058af41868

I have been looking at this round for a long time and the spattering of snow didnt put me off.  Park up at the churhc in Rous Lench.... pay careful attention to whether or not its a bus stop or not.  Head up for the first and then down a green lane.

Snowy Lane out of Rous Lench

From a walking perspective, Yeald Woods are the highlight of this walk.  I can here a loud snapping noise and when I cross the field to the woods, I can see it it a man snapping a plastic sheet to make the pheasants fly up.  As I get closer, he asks if I could put the dog on the lead - presumably in case they scare the birds.  Country folk with their country ways!  To be fair, as I enter the woods, there is a sign to get the dog on the lead and I always follow the instructions.

Good walk through the woods with four caches before Church Lench - which is the next hamlet we reach on the walk.

Easy to know why its called Church Lench

Continue down the Wychavon way for a couple of DNFs - the first, I have no idea.  The clues have been spot on on this trail and many of the caches are quite open - but I just couldnt find what the clue was referring to.  The next for http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=ccb74638-b845-4bc8-bbc5-c3c162472dd1 I think may have gone, looking at the gallery pictures.

Zig Zag down through fields until arriving at Craycombe Cottage - lovely lodge houses here and great views of Brendon Hill on the other side of the River Avon.

Work my way back up to Bishampton - the trail takes you around the back of the only pub on the trail!  I really should have taken a detour here, as I have been out for around 4 hours - but I am probably too dirty anyway.  Find one of the caches outside its nifty holder - put it back and hope it doesnt ping out again.

Then its a case of heading back in a North Easterly direction to the car.  Pick up the remaining five caches in fields and common land.  Total route took me exactly 5 hours.  Dog doesnt move for 24 hours after we get back.

A well thought out trail - at all major route decision points there is a cache to help you make up your mind.  The caches are all pretty easy, which on a route of this length is exactly what you want.  All caches are in good condition and I have added TBs to Lenches2, Lenches10 and Lenches15.  Thanks to Tarmacjohn for the setup and maintenance.

Somewhere around Cache Number 21. If only I could get the dog to look in the correct location!

20/11/10 - Trying to get to 900 in Hopwood

Length of Walk - 6 Miles
Number of Caches -
First Cache - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=0f1ed52f-5849-44f7-8fbb-ab9387259ddc

Horrible, foggy morning.  Its not raining but everytime there is a breeze, it blows great big drops from the trees - the sort that drop straight down the back of you jacket.

There are a load of caches in this area - a trail of Studio 16 - named after Stranglers albuns - a smattering of other in the Wast Hills.  I am 11 shy of my 900, so head out hoping for success.  I dont quite make it, thanks to 3 DNF!

Struggle to find somewhere to park down the narrow lane.  At one point, I am parked in the Autism Centre but then notice the private property sign and the fact that the barrier has a lock on it.  Move the car to a layby further north - which has a borders bag full of erotic fiction for ladies.  Bizarre.

The first cache is directly over a canal tunnel.  I dont realise this and am looking for a path on the ground.  Closer inspection reveals what the OS Markings on the map mean.  I am a duffus.  Find the cache and then drop off a TB.

Continue west for a find and then a DNF - I am looking for something at Waist Height but only spot barbed wire and brambles.  Continue on to a nice looking Pub called the Peacock, which has a cache over the road.

I then start on the Studio 16 Series, with 2 DNF.  The first at Yew Tree Farm.... next to the road, you think the passing motorists are mocking you and then down the world's muddiest lane - where a horse joins in the mocking of my futile attempts at searching.

At http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=526764d8-1f80-4fe8-b270-16760205851f i realise why I am having trouble finding the studio 16 caches... they are tiny!  This one has a decent clue, so I find it OK.

Before I know it, I am back at the peacock and make a pointless diversion across a muddy field to get a cache buried in the ground, but roped to a sign!  I have nice dirty boots with Pizza sized plates of mud in a circle around them!  Still, gets me one closer to the 900.

A bit of popping down lanes already walked, as I am walking back towards the car where the scenary takes a highlight as I walk down a wider expanse of greenery for two caches.  Couple of nice looking residences, I think one is Forhill House.  You wouldnt think you were a couple of miles out of BRM here.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=526764d8-1f80-4fe8-b270-16760205851f is the last of the walking today.... there is one more that I could have got but it would mean another muddy yomp through ploghed fields... I'll save it for the Summer!

Stop in the car at the m42 services for a cash and dash.

So found 9 which leaves me on 898!  I think I will get the 2 needed for 900 when I am in St Albans on Monday night... must remember my head torch!

Is this the greatest device ever for caching?

Glofiish X800

I have always used PDAs for caching but in a effort to carry only one device with me, I got hold of this Windows Mobile phone with GPS of Ebay.

First things first - the GPS is deadly accurate - never any spikes or random jumps around - always spot in.  Even in London.  This makes finding nano's easier.

I can run cachemate for a downloaded list of caches in the area and can log my caches, if I have 3G or a Wi-Fi in the pub, I can log the finds in the field.

But the greatest feature - as put to use in Harpenden last night - it has a torch on the back!  And it works pretty well, enabling me to go down a pitch black footpath and find a 35mm cannister behind a gas main!  How good is that.

If only I could get a signal at home, it would be perfect. 

7th November 2010 - A new round outside kiddy

Miles - No more than 3
Number of caches - around 8
Number found - 1.5 on day one and the other half on day 2.
First cache - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=74ab0fda-e33f-4e72-9892-9c5b0dd76913

If you like a challenge, then I recommend this cache trail that has just appeared outside of kiddy.  There are no clues, apart from the titles that are anagrams.  I am useless at anagrams, so had a less than successful day caching, but I did enjoy it.

I particulary need to tell you about the experiences at http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=5406c71b-cab1-4ad5-bc42-3719c268bb73.

The first cache at the parking layby completely baffled me.  I then moved on the star of the show.  I could guess where it was, but it looked like it needed special equipment.  My attempts as dislodging with a very large branch were futile.  Fortunately, I had the glen to myself, so no-one saw.

After following the trail and finding only one, despite deciphering at least one anagram, I returned home and enlisted the help of my son.  He wanted a new game for his PS3 - so he owed and due the fact that we needed ladders, we retuned on 9/11/10 with the appropriate kit, under the cover of darkness.

Hi Ho - Its off to work we go!

A short but muddy walk brings us to GZ and then up persiscope and send the boy up to retreive.

I'll do anything for a PS3 Game

He chucks down what I was poking with a stick on Sunday and lets just say that it turns out not as expected.  More hunting required, but eventual success and I have the TBs to prove it.

As I say, this trail is not your normal run on the mill series and I think the remainder will keep me occupied for a number of weeks.

Thanks to FungimanForager for setting them up and sending an email to all the hunters over the weekend, explaining the raionale behind the series!

6/11/10 - The Gentle Cotswolds around Stow

Distance - 6.5 Miles
Number of Caches - 11
First Cache - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=1d00b8f8-98f1-4ae2-ad25-47c99aa90fa5

I love the Cotswolds and have been walking here since I bought a dog 8 years ago.  Four years ago, I completed the Cotswold Way (with Dog) over the course of two long weekends.  I am now re-discovering areas, since taking up caching two years ago.

I have had my eye on the Swells and Wells round for some time and a couple of months ago, I even took in a couple on the Sezincote Stroll round completed.  Today, i am here again.  I think that parking might be tricky in Stow on the Wold on a Saturday, so I see a sign for Upper Swell as I approach from the North and see if I can park here.  The answer is yes, at a Sewage Farm's wide entrance.  It means cache number 1 for me is number 4 on the route.

What I like about the Cotsolds in its English Charm, pubs and gentleness.  This is summed up by the view that you see on the first building of the day which says "Beware of the Dogs".

Unscary Guard Dogs...

Head on up the hill and find the first cache of the day, which also shows me where the Donnington Brewery is.  I have had a few of their pints over my walks in the Cotswolds.

Home of Donnigton Beer

Carry on up hill, easy cache between trees and then over the main road, so the dog can come of her lead for the first team.  Soon, I am on familar ground again, as I take up paths that I walked two months ago on the Sezincote round.  Means that I am walking for a while in great countryside without caches until I get to Broadwell.

This is a lovely village and if I had a horse, I would have been tempted to ride to see if they could be bothered to levy the fine!

What sort of deterent is this!

Here, I record a DNF, as I fail to locate a cache at the back of a phone box.  Made more tricky, as it is adjacent to a ford and the cars slow down to enter.

Never mind, I continue up a lovely green lane on the Monarchs way for a couple of caches until I reach the outskirts of the Stow on the Wold.

This is a stunning location.  One day, I will come and stay overnight and allow myself more time to go in the book shops, teashops, pubs and explore the intricate alley ways.

Stow - take your time here

I take a detour from the Swells and Wells series to find a church micro.  This is not too easy as a) it looks out over a perpetual traffic jam at the lights and b) its buried under the leaves that some proud Citizen has kindly swept up!

Over the road and across fields to take on the last three of the series.  On the map, it looked like a bit of road walking here, but there is a permissive path on the side of the road.  Before long, I am back at Upper Swell and glad to see the car in one piece.

So, the cache tally increases through another Wrighty Round in the Cotsolds.  Thanks for setting up, and the recent maintenance.  I will now be monitoring the Broadwell cache to see if that is found.