2016's caching in review

Hello!

This is my first post in months, sorry about that! I haven't been caching very much as I've been busy studying. However, I've still been on some fantastic walks and found some great caches this year. I've written several articles for the GAGB's Seeker Magazine about a few of them but sadly never got round to writing anything here.

This is my annual 'in review' blog post in which I recount the highlights of 2016's caching and assess the degree to which I've met the goals I set myself at the start of the year.

These were my goals:

1. Reach 3,000 finds
2. Find more than 576 caches (my current record)
3. Find more quality caches 
4. Complete more of my D/T grid
5. Place my next series

At time of writing, I've found 2,535 caches - so I am still not near to 3,000. I've found 258 caches this year. Whilst not my best count, it's still more than I found in 2013 and 2014. I filled in only one more space in my D/T grid with GC5X3MZ. However, it's not all doom and gloom! Far from it!

I have found some excellent, quality caches this year - and that's what matters most. I have just updated my Cache of the Year bookmark list highlighting my favourite finds. This year's winner is Mont Tendre: le sommet 1679m (GC59HC1). It's placed at the summit of Mont Tendre, which is the highest point of the Jura Mountains in Switzerland. The walk up was fantastic; the sun was out and our surroundings were simply beautiful. It was a unique experience to see so many friendly cows up there and hear their bells ringing, from both near and afar. The views were gobsmacking from the summit. We could see across Lac Leman to France and Mont Blanc, which is the highest mountain in the Alps. The sense of achievement was great and finding a nice cache container in good condition was the icing on the cake. We had a great walk back down the other side of the mountain too. You can read my article about this trip in a recent issue of the GAGB's Seeker Magazine.

The competition for my Cache of the Year has never been closer, with Amour Series Bonus (GC6D641) as the runner up. This was an immense ammo container that served as the finale of a super series of Multi caches. Each Multi had an ingenious first stage, each of which put a smile on my face. The caches themselves were all ammo cans. Other notable caches include Pi In The Sky (GC446E2), Magic Eye View (GCTV41) and Reloader's Cache#20 - Romainmôtier & le Nozon (GCQ8YJ).

I also thoroughly enjoyed various events. The Geolympix Mega was excellent and so was the GPS Maze, which was in the UK for the first time. I also had a great time at the CacheWalker Twixmas Bash yesterday. We were very lucky with the sunny weather for the pre-event group walk! Next year is CacheWalker's 10th anniversary so I'm excited to see how we'll celebrate it - I'm sure I'll have a lot to report in next year's 'in review' post!

In addition to meeting my goal to find quality caches, I managed to achieve my final one - to place a new series. It's called Brailes Bonanza and consists of 20 caches on a hilly route of 6 miles. I first walked the route back in May 2015, so I already had an idea of where I was going to place the caches. I really love the route - it's my favourite of all the series' I have placed! The views are fantastic and the area is so quiet. I chose the final route and designed the cache placements to reflect what I perceive to be the perfect formula for a series. Obviously this is subjective! I'm happy that several of the caches have quite a few favourite points now. I'm really looking forward to walking the route again and maintaining the caches in 2017.

Once again, I can conclude that finding quality caches is far more rewarding than seeking numbers and improving stats. The fact that I've managed to write a reasonably blog post having not found many caches or improved any stats is a testament to this.

Happy New Year and all the best to all for 2017.

Griff Grof

Caching in South Gloucestershire

Hello!

This is my first post of 2016, so I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

I hadn't been caching since the CacheWalker Twinew event a couple of weeks ago. That was an enjoyable but wet experience, it's a shame that it's the second CacheWalker Twixmas/Twinew event to see the rain - the sun has shone for the others. Let's hope the weather's better for this year's event.

We fancied visiting a new area today; I noticed the 'Toy Story' series, which is in a part of South Gloucestershire we had not been to before.

Toy Story series, 10 miles, 39 caches, Tytherington, South Glos

It was unusually warm today due to the tropical air mass which was blown up to the UK. Unfortunately it wasn't sunny, but at least it was dry, unlike the day of the CacheWalker event! Our first find was a Church Micro; in fact, today was the day for finding caches from several nationwide series'. Overall, I found 5 Little Bridges, 2 Fine Pair's and 2 Church Micro's. Several of these were incorporated into the Toy Story series whilst a couple were extras.

St. James, Tytherington - opposite the first Church Micro of the day.

We were soon out on the trail; the footpaths were incredibly muddy and the ground was generally waterlogged, which meant that walking was difficult to begin with. However, we soon got used to it and some stretches were better than others. Luckily, we had good boots and gaters on - essential if you too decide to complete this series during the winter!

What I loved about it was the thought that went into the caches. There were hardly any Micros, and the Small/Regular caches were very well stocked. In fact, some were extremely generous in size whilst others were ingenious, with GC5ERP1 particularly coming to mind - it was one of those caches where you instantly decide they're deserving of a favourite point!

Everything was going well until #17, where the cache was quickly spotted at the base of an oak prior to a swarm of bees, or even wasps, emerging from the tree hollow. I was surprised that no one had mentioned the fact that there is a nest in any of the previous logs, so we reckon the cacher ahead of us must have unintentionally disturbed them earlier. I'm sure that you'll agree that it is odd to see bees/wasps at this time of year!

There were various Multi's to complete throughout the walk and none of these were too difficult, which was a relief. We were soon walking along some pleasant tracks and country lanes finding more caches before it was time to calculate the coordinates for the Bonus. We had missed a value in one of the caches and we tried our best but the coords we came up with weren't logical. After tweaking them we thought we had a more likely location, and the cache was found - it was huge, and the twist within was a great surprise!

Nice views on the way back to Tytherington

It was then back to Tytherington, concluding a pleasant walk through some quiet countryside, finding some good caches along the way. Overall, a nice series which was made even more fun by its theme. We reckon that a lot of the fields will be filled with livestock in the summer, but we only encountered one field, with sheep, today. Looking forward to doing more long walks this year; in fact, I've already got the next one planned.

Unfortunately, life continues to get in the way of Geocaching, so it might be a case of finding a couple of special caches closer to home over the next couple of weeks - which is just as good!

Griff Grof

Caching in the Peak District

Hello!

My dad and I have been wanting to go to walking in the Peak District for ages; with stunning walks and some of the most favourited caches in the country, we knew that we wouldn't be leaving disappointed. We have some friends in Matlock who invited us to stay, and so after a few days in Devon we had three days in the Peak District to look forward to!

Unfortunately, it was pouring in rain the day we arrived. However, this did not stop us exploring the local area. The first cache we found was the Derbyshire Little Quest, GC15KQD, which offered fantastic views over Matlock. It was placed right next to Riber Castle which can be seen from most of the town. This marked only my second LQ cache as I slowly work my way towards the finale.

Nice view over Matlock from the LQ cache 

We then went up High Tor, above Matlock Bath. There is both an Earthcache (GC5TZ3H) and Multi cache (GCHFP3) there. Whilst it was raining to begin with, it soon cleared up as we began our walk along Giddy Edge completing the Earthcache and Multi simultaneously. There were great views to be enjoyed along a path only made possible by geology and Victorian ingenuity.

The Earthcache was fairly straight-forward, however we encountered problems when it came to the Multi. Several of the answers at the different stages were rather subjective, but we went with our gut instincts and saw that the coords were a mile away across the Derwent gorge! We realised that this couldn't be correct, so we tried again and again. Eventually we decided to head home and email some recent finders as we read in nearly every log that people were finding it difficult to come up with  a logical final location. Fast-forward two days and we found the cache thanks to some help from the previous finder.


GC5Q5FZ, TRotAM, 14 miles, 50 caches, Hope

Let me start by saying that this is one of the best series' I have ever done.

We chose to do this series after our friends informed us that the views from Mam Tor ridge were beautiful and that it would be a stunning walk overall judging by the terrain on the map. I was unsure, however, as typically loops with lots of caches disappoint. How wrong I was.

The series takes you through Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which tells the tale of a sailor who has returned from a long voyage. It starts and ends in the village of Hope.

Our friend decided to come with us to learn about Geocaching. After the very first cache, he was hooked, and decided he would register as 'moz63'. The series is split into two loops; the first is 6 miles long whilst the second is 7. We had decided to do the series in reverse, starting with the final cache of the second loop. This was only due to the weather forecast: with sunshine set for the afternoon, moz63 told us that it would be best to be walking along Mam Tor ridge at that point of the day.

The caches were all straight-forward finds in peaceful spots. At one point near towards the start of the walk, we passed through a field of cows. They didn't cause us any problems since they simply weren't interested in us. We then began a steep uphill climb which was worth it as we were rewarded with gobsmacking panoramic views and great caches.

Views. The clouds soon cleared!

As we continued to walk up, the views became even more impressive. I became immersed in them. I loved how the caches were placed at points which helped you appreciate them even more.

We loved one creative hide nearer the top. We were barely a couple of miles in and this series was already extremely promising with such beautiful views and a unique hide now thrown in. We were soon at the top of Win Hill, a stunning peak with superb views out towards Mam Tor and Kinder Scout.

Win Hill

We continued our walk along this ridge whilst enjoying the beautiful landscape. We crossed ways with some other cachers (Vandark) as we were doing the series in reverse. We then gazed into the spectacular Vale of Edale as we walked down a steep hill back into the lowland. In fact, it was so steep that we were glad we decided to do it in reverse and take the more gentle, although longer, route up.

Vale of Edale

We found several more caches before arriving back in Hope. Here, we enjoyed a delicious lunch and some cold drinks in The Old Hall Hotel. It was great to stop off there and cool down now that it was getting warmer towards the end of the first loop with the sun coming out.

Up to Mam Tor ridge

We decided to complete the next loop in numerical order. We weren't too keen on it at first, since we had to walk along quite a busy road for the first few caches. However, we soon forgot about this as we began our walk through some more lovely countryside, with Mam Tor looming above us in the distance. We had made the right decision this morning as there was (almost) not a cloud in the sky.

Before too long we began the steepish walk up to Mam Tor. Of course it seemed more tiring than the earlier incline, having walked 8 miles already. Again, it was worth it as stunning views began to emerge. Once we were up on the ridge, there were even more fantastic open landscapes either side of us.

Views from the top of the ridge

We decided that, whilst we were there, we had to divert to Mam Tor. This added just over a mile to our walk in total, but it was undoubtedly worth it. There were 360 degree views to be enjoyed and it was the perfect place to stop and have a break. It's hard to put it into words: it was simply stunning up there. The strong winds were invigorating and filled all of us with positive energy.

Views from the top of Mam Tor

After our worthwhile visit to the top of Mam Tor, we enjoyed more views along a superb walk on the ridge. It was great how we could see out towards Win Hill where we were just a few hours earlier. The caches kept on coming and unfortunately we had to skip out two extras since we had ascended Back Tor too early - and we weren't going back down after the walk up!

Mam Tor ridge

There were even more views as we descended back down into Hope. After just over 14 miles and 50 caches, we had completed possibly the best series we have ever done.

The views as we finished

It had everything: an outstanding walk over varied terrain (riverbanks, pastures, woodland, moorland, rocky peaks, ridges and green lanes), fantastic scenery and views, and purposeful caches. Whilst some were a little forgettable, there were a few creative hides, some of which I had not seen before. I don't think moz63 could have had a better first day caching!

I definitely recommend this series, especially to those who love elevated walking within a beautiful landscape. We won't forget this marvellous series. What a cracker. 

GC2M97J, Alphabet Soup, 9.5 miles, 25 caches, Darby Dale

We have read rave reviews about this series, and it has also been personally recommended to me. As we were staying just a couple of miles away, we decided that we couldn't leave the Peak District without having a go at one of the most favourited series' in the UK.

It's a shame that the CO doesn't seem to be as active as they once were, and as a result a few of the caches weren't in the best condition. Although broken, the first cache was awesome and from this point on we knew that there would be more treats in store.

We went wrong to begin with; couldn't quite understand why the second cache was placed on a parallel footpath to the one we were meant to be on. So we had to backtrack. Once we were on the correct path it was an enjoyable walk to begin with.

There were some nice views as we began to ascend. The great thing about this series is that many of the caches were ingenious hides - you never knew what to expect, so you have to commend the CO for keeping the cacher on their toes.

We were soon in Ladygrove Wood, which was beautiful. There were some great paths, and it was a brilliant surprise to find a waterfall there!

Waterfall

Unfortunately it was a DNF at cache J (which was disabled, but people had been finding it). Glad to see that we weren't the only ones to get a DNF that day, though... perhaps it is now truly gone?

Good paths

We were then in Halldale Wood, which was another lovely piece of woodland. Several great caches later, we found ourselves on the final stretch of the walk. There were still some more super caches to be enjoyed. Perhaps the only downside of the series was that that some lengthy sections of the walk followed roads. However, thankfully they were mostly quiet lanes, but of course it would have been ideal for even more of it to have been along footpaths! 

Overall, this was a nice series in a lovely part of the country. The caches were brilliant, and I can only imagine what they were like a few years ago when the series was newer and feeling less tired. It's good to have finally done this famous series. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Peak District, finding some outstanding caches along some stunning rights of way. What another great county for caching. We will be sure to return very soon. 

Griff Grof

A MEGA day caching

Ah, and so it's that time of year again - the day of the annual UK roving Mega Event. And this year it's visiting the West Midlands; I felt this event was close to me. Not only did we have a fund-raising raffle for the the Mega at our CacheWalker event, but I had got very familiar with the names of the committee and supporters, through the (now gone) West Midlands Regional Forum. My expectations were high, and I was looking forward to putting these faces to names. Walk Tall invited me to attend with him; he even hinted that we may be able to squeeze some caching in during the day (well, no one wants to be sat in a venue cramped with people all day, do they?!)

We did literally pop in to the venue to register, chat to friends from home and look around the stalls -  then we were off caching - hurrah! Walk Tall wanted to take part in the CITO, and rightly so (I enjoy them!) We moved with the crowd, collecting whatever rubbish we could find as we reached the village of Gaydon. Gloves off, it was time to have a go at the new Wherigo - it was quite confusing, as the cartridge wasn't really working on our GPS, but thankfully there were others who weren't in the same situation who could help get us back on track: with this, the cache was now found not much later.

There was an icon challenge - 11 in 11 - going on throughout the day, but we had no interest in this having achieved it at the Geolympix last year. But we were starting to collect quite a few icons! Three so far, and a fourth as we bagged a Multi, and a fifth as we found the standard traditional once we teamed up with some other cachers to complete part of a Marrow Bone - sorry, that's MARROW BONE - series.

The part we did was quite enjoyable, nothing outstanding, but good caching. The hills to our left, (where they held a Kite event on Monday) looked nice, I expect there are great views from up there! Don't get me wrong, though, just like the Ottmore series, the scenery was lovely and alive, this was especially noticeable under the sun. What I love about Mega events is the fact that there are so many cachers about - we must have passed nearly a hundred throughout the day by this point!

With a pleasant walk over in good company, and all caches bagged, it was time to grab our sixth icon - an Unknown. And finally, we completed another quick walk which had two more 'In Honour of...' caches (these were published on the day, one for each past UK Mega; we found a couple whilst on the series earlier.) We bumped in to even more familiar faces here, and put some more to names. Then it was back to the Heritage Motor Centre to watch the closing ceremony; I cannot wait until Ayrshire next year, it'll be fab! (that's if I can make it: Scotland is a long drive away!)

I'm sorry for no photos again, didn't take any!

Griff Grof

Quest for Ziggy

Ziggy Stardust, 6 miles, 4 caches. First cache: GC173RX

There cannot be a better choice of series to set out and complete than a Wrighty series. Long on the agenda, we chose our most local unfound, the Ziggy Stardust walk, to tackle on a chilly Easter Monday afternoon.

Bitter wind challenged us on the way to 'The man who sold the world' (#1,) but nothing could take away from the stunning scenery of the area, with GZ being in a good spot, in typical Wrighty style.

Unfortunately it was a DNF on the second cache (we were bitten by a dog on the way - maybe this sidetracked our search?!) and, so, as we continued, the question regarding whether we'd be able to deduce Ziggy's location missing a value began to (unfortunately) lure upon us.

The third cache, 'China Girl', was the highlight of the walk for me. The views were brilliant along this stretch, though we had to be very cautious walking along the lane, which was covered in ice! In fact, just to prove that I'm not exaggerating, have a look at what we spotted in a spiny to our right shortly before GZ:

Yes, that is a large piece of self-standing ice!!! :O 

When we did arrive at GZ we weren't disappointed. I couldn't have thought of a better place to put a cache, above a meandering valley! Despite the cold and the DNF, we were still enjoying the walk, and I was determined that we'd be able to find Ziggy! 

Did nearly slip on the ice along the same lane to #4 - it's outrageous the council don't place salt along these roads; we did see several cars drive by, thankfully they didn't seem to have a problem. So, the time had come to calculate the coordinates for Ziggy's location. Nope, we weren't going to get him. The strangest locations were produced as I substituted possible numbers into the coordinates! 

Nevertheless, we continued. I really didn't want to finish without collecting Ziggy, so by this point I was raiding the CacheWalker shoutbox and texting Wrighty himself for help. Unfortunately, no one on CacheWalker could remember exactly where GZ was, and Wrighty was working so never got to see the texts on time. 

We did enjoy the remainder of the walk, with more stunning views to supplement for the DNFs on two of the four caches. This did make up for that, and, at the end of the day, for me, it's the walk that counts, and not the caches: and this was a simply fantastic route. Furthermore, on the plus-side, it's a reason to return, perhaps with the whole family, to pick up the two we missed. 

A highly recommended series - hopefully you can top it off with finding Ziggy but, if not, you won't get back to your car feeling disappointed!

Griff Grof

Happy fifth birthday, CacheWalker!!

Hello,

Today was CacheWalker day - and my first event (with help from the rest of the CacheWalker group). Overall, I would say the day was a success, despite the horrendous weather! It was organised to celebrate our CacheWalker group turning five years old! Five years ago (next Sunday) the first group walk took place, and here we are five years later celebrating CacheWalker's success with cachers old and new, from near and far. The idea of holding an event to celebrate came about in February, and if we had gone with our original plan, today would have been very different. But I'm glad we decided to hold the event up on Dovers Hill instead, and I think it's fair to say that everyone would agree.

Arrived a little earlier to set everything up, to the most horrible rain - it was bitter, cold and windy. Set up the event GZ under a large chestnut tree, within a cluster of trees for shelter. Loads of cachers arrived throughout the two hours (yep, we cut the event short due to the weather) there must have been 35 people in total! I had thought most people wouldn't even turn up having seen the horrid weather when they woke up. I had fun talking to everyone, and collecting presents for the "Secret birthday presents" handing out at the end. I had made a wonderful A3 Birthday card for CacheWalker as the logbook, but by the end of the event it had sadly become soggy mush.

We had hidden five new caches over five icons (to celebrate five years) and so I set off with walktall to find some of them (that I didn't hide), by tarmacjohn. Fab caches in fab spots, I have to come back on a clearer day, but they were fab (though micro, which disappointed a bit!) Got back to the event to find nearly everyone had left, but Wrighty soon informed us that everyone had returned to the car park to have their picnics in the shelter of their cars, and to draw the raffle. We all made our way over there, drew the raffle, handed out the secret birthday presents and said our final farewells. We all also laughed at how this was the first CacheWalker event where it had rained, I guess these spells break after five years!

Overall, despite the worst weather in months, and the fact that we were all wet within 10 minutes, I still think the event was a huge success - nearly 40 people turned up, laughed, smiled and joined in the birthday fun and celebrations - just the fact that all those people still arrived shows how much people cared enough to come and give CacheWalker a happy fifth birthday!! I had a great day, and I think everyone else did too! Thank you all for coming - next up is Twixmas - back to the (dry) pub events with pre-event group walks, 30th December, location TBA.

Happy Fifth Birthday CacheWalker, and here's to the next five years! I'm honoured to have organised an event to celebrate this, and honoured to be a part of CacheWalker for the last two years!

 Griff Grof

My first Wherigo - Reindeer Round-Up

Reindeer Round-Up , 10 caches, 3.5 miles, Himbleton, Worcestershire 

Hello,

After the working week, we thought we needed a little break - caching [:)] I had some homework left to do, and so we decided that we needed to find a short little walk, near to home. I had been looking at doing the "Reindeer Round-Up" series since it was published at Christmas, and even though it did have a festive theme, I just couldn't resist giving this series a go. Of course, the other factor  that made me really want to the series was the fact that 9 out of the 10 caches on the loop were Wherigo caches - I'd never found a Wherigo before, so I was really excited. So read on, as I take you on my first Wherigo adventure!

 

There was ample parking near to the first cache. I loved how Wherigo caches are like a game. The object of the game on this series was to catch all the reindeer for Santa - thus why the series is called "Reindeer Round-up"! The walk had a pleasant start, we went through a field of sheep - and there were lovely views to be enjoyed. The first few caches were all easy finds, before my Wherigo cartridge kept on crashing, causing a huge delay at the "Vixen" cache - spent ages looking for it, with my Oregon turning itself on and off all the time, before we had to PAF to the CO's Delta68, who kindly told us where the cache was. 

Even though the day was a little dull, there were a lot of ramblers about - this made the whole process a little slower, because they kept on stopping for snacks when we needed to find caches. Somehow managed to retrieve the next few without them noticing. I loved the "Blitzen" cache the most! Don't want to give anything away on here, but it was a challenge, and a rewarding, well stocked cache at the end - in the most tranquil of spots! The cartridge seemed to be working fine now, though it was a little slow. Now that I had successfully caught (found) all eight reindeer (caches) the Grotto was unlocked on my GPS - it was like magic, there I was and the suddenly a cute little grotto pops up on my screen - great. The next part of my quest was then to walk over to the Grotto itself, and give the reindeer back to Santa. 

Passed some very lovely ponds on the way to the grotto, and there were some fishermen enjoying themselves, even though it was now raining. I simply loved what happened at the grotto - the cartridge let you "talk" to Santa, who expressed his thanks for rounding up his reindeer, and also told us where the cache was - great. The grotto cache was nice and big, as well as well stocked - the log book was in a stocking! Great, now I wish I had done it at Christmas, but oh well. Now it was to work out the puzzle, and go to the bonus. 

Eek, well on the way to the bonus, there was a field of cows. After being chased by them the last two times I've been in the same field as them, I felt a little nervous - but it was all fine, and I soon found the bonus cache waiting for me - glad I had managed to solve the puzzle correctly! By now the rain was really coming down, so after signing the log it was a dash back to the car, and the end of a great series. 

Well, it was fabulous! A great little walk, with good terrain, some nice views, and picturesque landscape. I was over the moon to not only have bagged my first Wherigo, but my first 9 Wherigo caches all in one day! This series must be breaking peoples records! Although all the caches are listed as "small" all the containers were different, but yet all were well stocked. So, to sum up, a great little Wherigo series, which is highly recommended by me. Really enjoyed this new cache type, it's only the beginning for me and Wherigo caches, looking forward to finding more, and maybe even setting something myself. Perfect for a first time Wherigo adventure!

Griff Grof