30/06/15 - Muggled at Dawn

Distance - 6.6 Miles
Geocaches - 13 out of 18
First Cache



Spurred on by last night's FTF on a multi cache that had only been published 20 minutes prior, I head off to Murcot at the crack of dawn to attempt a reasonable length series near Broadway, Worcestershire.

Nestling in the Vale of Evesham, it's an area I know well - offering fine walking and an increasing amount of Geocaching Trails.

I don't park up at Cache 1, as there is something wrong with the parking waypoint.  Now I have been there, I can assure you that parking as suggested is impossible unless a) you have a 4x4 and b) you own the land.  Instead,  I pull at the little layby just off the A44 at Wickhamford.

Clock reads 6:01am but importantly, the temperature gauge is not in the high 20s, as predicted for today.

Cache 8 shows me that the round will be challenging.  Not too obvious, without a detailed clue.  Cacher's instinct takes over and I make a quick find.

The gate to cache 9 is guarded by a bull.  You can understand why I have no photos.  I ask him politely if its OK to make my way across his harem field and he doesn't seem to object.

Then its two DNF on the bounce.  The first one, with shattered confidence as the last cachers also made a DNF, the next one - I make a great attempt - lying prostrate on a bridge but coming up empty handed

Mood not improved by the field that I have to battle across to get there.  Amazing how it can be so hot, yet the foliage so damp.

To be fair, I was warned in the Cache Description

Wet trousers ahoy, I almost make it an unheard three DNF on the bounce until I extend my search at cache 12.  I made it ever so slightly more north of the published co-ords but delighted to get my name in the funky geocaching log book.

Childswickham is a nice little village.  I am greeted with a friendly hello by all the dog walking villagers, as a I wind my way through - picking up a classic outlier in a phone box.  That makes up for 1 of the 2 DNF so far.

Childswickham - Nice Place

Caching is nice and easy as I make my way along a superb pathway - grabbing caches 13 - 1 without any problems at all.  Fine views over to Bredon and Cleeve Hill, sharing my route with the Wychavon Way.

Heating Up

Number 2 has to be left as a dog walking muggle is approaching.  I was not confident I was going to make a find.

Number 3 - let's say no more about it - no idea.  Number 4 - found after a hunt but its number 5 where I get badly muggled.

It's at a horse farm and I know that its on a metallic gate.  I start making a cursory hunt when I hear an "Hello - Can I help you" from a woman tending the horses.  I have made a fatal cachers mistake and not scouted the area for muggles before searching.

I hope that "No, I'm fine" but no, she starts marching across asking ever increasingly difficult to answer questions, including "am I lost?" and if "I'm not lost, what could I possibly be doing to her gate?".

I have no answer to this.  I can't believe she will be overjoyed to know her gate is a geocaching GZ and by the vigour of her questioning, I can only assume she has had security issues.

After exclaiming that I have found the path I need, I skulk off, feeling sheepish.

My advice to future cachers is to take care and don't hunt if anyone is about.  Two suspicious characters and I think there will be armed guards.

With just two more to find, I make my way back to the GeoWagon, mercifully free from more muggles.

A tough old round this one, I usually get a much higher percentage.

Fair play to Finstall,  FTF on most of the caches, and if I am not mistaken, making a highly credible clean sweep.

TFTC - Stretchy123