03/04/15 - Brighter Later

Distance - 9.72 Miles
Geocaches - 23 Found, 3 DNF, 2 Not looked for
First Cache

As it's a Bank Holiday, it had to rain.  The drive down the M5 was completed in torrential rain and the weatherman were good to their word.  They predicted the rain would stop at 11am.  I start this Geocaching round at 10:23 and by the time I reach cache number 1, I am able to take my hood down.

So I am not going to get wet from above, but the paths, especially on the early (steep) sections are in pretty ropey condition.  If I had been wearing my walking shoes, rather than boots, I would have lost one to the mud.  In the end, the only mishap was a spectacular hillside slip and tumble.  At least it was only horses that observed it.

Park up at an odd little bit of common land that is next to a housing estate and covered in sheep on my return.  They're not fenced in and it makes you wonder what stops them from running off or getting run over.

Across a field to cache number 1 before crossing the m5, who's constant drone accompanies me for the early part of the walk.

A Bridge just for Ramblers

Caches 2-12 take you up hill and back down again through horse fields.  Every so often there is a series of loud bangs from a nearby farm and the mystery is solved on arrival.  A firing range.  If i'd have paid attention to the map I would have noticed that it does say "Rifle Range - Disused". Someone has recommissioned it.

Views back over Gloucester

The Red Flag is flying

Caches 13-16 take you through Brookthorpe.  It has a pub, but I am in no state to enter their establishment, having taken my mud assisted tumble at Cache 3.  There's also a pretty little 13th Century church, with tombs dating back to the 1600s.

St Swithuns, Brookthorpe

Caches 17-21 are across very flat and very green farmland, leading to Whaddon, with another 13th Century Church and an impressive school.

The Car is back in the Shadow of the Hill

St Margaret of Scotland Church, Whaddon

Caches 22-28 involve another climb and then skirting a golf course, where the golfers are the only humans that I have seen on this walk.

Throughout the round, I have been collecting numbers for a bonus and its around Cache 26 when I have a complete set.  A rather complex formula (especially when I don't have my glasses) is manipulated and the co-ords programmed.  It's always interesting to see if you have got this right, but GZ appears to be near the car and on a public footpath.  However, there are 4 previous DNF.

Is this down to the formula or is the cache missing?  I decide that I have been at this for too long to not investigate.

I record my last DNF of the day.

Thanks to Joe & June for setting up this challenging round.  I've emailed to see if I did the maths correctly :-)