New Year's Day caching in the rain

Oversly Trail Two, 8.2 miles, 41 caches. Alcester, Worcestershire. 

Caching in the rain seems to be becoming something of a habit lately - the CacheWalker walk on Monday, and, again, today. What can you do? - I mean, this is Britain I'm caching in!
I've had my eyes on the [first incarnation] of this series since I started caching back in 2010, and had solved all the puzzles and planned it all for today as a back up option, were the weather to be playing up, resulting in cancelling the intended trip to the Brecon Beacon's. It was a bonus to see the series archived and re-listed with three times as many caches... and, after waking up to heavy rainfall, we set off kitted up to brave the elements in Worcestershire, rather than Brecon.

We actually waited in the car for an hour once we had arrived, hoping that the rain would ease off. And what do you know, it was worth the wait, as we kicked-off the series in dry - but windy - conditions. Understandably, all the caches on this series were bison tubes... a shame, as there were some spots which could have housed a much larger container. The walk was muddy right from the start, and we got our first DNF (since October!) at #2: couldn't spot it quickly enough, and we were right at the end of someone's garden, and so we wanted to move on quickly, in order to not look too suspicious. I enjoyed the first stretch, despite the road noise, with open countryside around us.

And then came the rain - heavier than ever coupled with the wind. We were drenched by #15, but this didn't dampen our spirits, as we continued; at this point we were pretty certain that we would call it a day after the first loop (the series is set in a figure of eight). The day was delivering pretty much what I wanted, though - a good walk just CACHING - it's been a while since we've done this! By the time we were nearly at the car, it was dry again... obviously, we decided to go for the second half of the series, we were there and having a good time, with promising weather.

So, off we marched; we soon bumped in to another cacher who was also a member of the West Midlands Regional Geocaching Forum, Team Airtomoreira. We decided to team up as a three for the rest of the series. I was really glad that we'd chosen to continue as we were now walking across some really lovely countryside, with some nice views.

Open Countryside: Nice views 

There was a rather odd looking white tower (house,) which must've been constructed prior to planning laws, as we couldn't believe that the council would allow it these days. We continued with more easy, but well hidden, caches in the dry whilst enjoying the surrounding countryside around us. Then, we decided to divert to attempt a Church Micro. There was a very rare early 18th century structure in the churchyard, of hurdle and gorse walls with a thatched roof. It was constructed for the mounts of visiting clergy from neighbouring parishes... we found this very interesting! It was just a shame that the three of us couldn't find the actual cache - the third, and final, DNF of the day for us.

Very rare 18th century structure, originally for visiting clergy, in the churchyard. 

The final stretch was particularly muddy. The route effectively takes you around Oversley Wood, a pity that the CO's couldn't get permission to place some caches inside it - I'm sure it's lovely in there, though, and I'm sure the now-archived Wherigo would have showcased  it well. We saw quite a humorous sign near to one of the caches - you can see the bridleway mentioned to the right... yes, it is that narrow muddy path:

Duh! Who would even consider taking their lorry up a muddy path which is just one foot wide?!

With three caches to go, the heavens opened once again, so we rushed to the car. Despite the changeable weather (thankfully it was dry most of the time,) this was a most enjoyable morning's caching! The caches were quick and easy to find, and the walk was very pleasant, with some lovely open stretches and good views - I can't think of anything negative to say, and that's because this series has been executed extremely well. A must-do, perhaps save it for a sunny day -  you could enjoy your surroundings a little bit more!

That's 45 caches found today, less than 24 hours in to 2014 - I doubt I'll keep this find rate up! Happy New Year to all, and thank you for continuing to follow my blog through 2013!

Griff Grof