Caching al estilo español

Siempre me encanta buscar Geocaches en España, porque - no, don't worry, I won't write this post in Spanish - I may well disengage you all if I did!

So, let's start this again: I love going caching in Spain; since I started caching, we've found at least one  every time we've gone. Back then, in 2010, there were hardly any around! Just goes to show how much the times have changed... there must now be hundreds and hundreds within a two-mile radius of where we stay - and only three years have been and gone!

We always enjoy cycling up the various local paths, and so we welcomed the fact that a new linear series of caches had been published, covering a five mile stretch. Of course, we wouldn't be stupid enough to do all the caches on our doorstep in one go - so we only did a few (probably passing several    of the others) in order to save the rest until next time. If you're a real cacheaholic, then you must be thinking I'm crazy passing caches and not looking for them - what if they're archived come next year? Good point, I'll just have to hope that they're not! In all seriousness, though, perhaps the main reason for not doing them all in one go was the heat - the area was going through a particularly warm patch, and so we concluded that it wouldn't be wise to push ourselves too far.

Caches feel so much more rugged in Spain, if you know what I mean. It's as if they haven't caught up with the containers we tend to use here, for there are hardly any film canisters in sight, and most caches seem to be of a larger size. Of the four we found along this stretch of the route, there was one sneaky hide (which we chuckled at!) and the rest were generous regulars! Plus, you won't see a lizard if you turn over a rock here in the UK either - in Spain, we did see a couple in this scenario, makes caching feel a bit more exotic!

~

Our next caching trip, an early morning stroll along the beach, wasn't quite as successful and enjoyable. Gosh, there are some REALLY HARD caches in Spain!!! Of the eleven we attempted, we found one. Yes, ONE. Possibly the most unsuccessful day caching ever, for anyone, let alone for someone with nearly 1500 finds. In my defence, the caches were in a very high-muggle area. There were people all over the beach, even this early in the morning and there were people sat outside the restaurants and hotels which back on to the beach... as you can guess, it was, therefore, very stressful trying to find caches in between all this, the only possibility for their placement were palm trees, but their trunks were smooth-as-paper each time, no hidey-holes to be found. I've no idea where all these caches were or if they had been muggled, perhaps they were all archived after I loaded the PQ: but then why did we find one of them? It's all a mystery, and not the caching I enjoy, so next year I'll make sure to hit the trail each time, rather than the beach, when it comes to caching!

Hasta el año que viene,
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

Around the world in one series

Otmoor Challenge, 30+ caches. Helsinki (where we started): GC3Q1KZ

Well, I can't be exact with that... only did part of the series! - 22, in fact, and we walked over six miles for that (don't take my word for it though... can't remember exactly!)

~

I began the day wrapping up at my work placement, when, all of a sudden, I was surprised by Walk Tall arriving telling me that we were going caching - brilliant! So, I bowed out, GPS in hand, and off we set. I was in the Kidlington area, and so we embarked on this particular series which wasn't too far away.

Each cache is named after a different city, thus the title of this post, and we found caches from London to Mexico City! I can't say that the caches or their contents boasted anything in particular about these places, but it was nice to have an ongoing theme.

It was a pleasant walk, and the caches were easy finds, other than one DNF we had between Helsinki and Oslo: perhaps the cache was missing? It was a scorching hot day, and so any views we got were a bit hazy, but, hey, the sun is out... who can complain? It's a rare event around here!

No photos? Unfortunately, as I was having such a great time talking to Walk Tall, it never occurred to me to get my camera out; no, it wasn't a walk with outstanding views, but the scenery was lovely, and we passed some very picturesque spots, such as a pond where I believe we saw two herons. Of course, the sun made this all the better!

A brilliant surprise, and a brilliant afternoon caching - you should take a look at these, but save them for a nice day so the area really comes alive - otherwise it won't be as special. A pleasant walk.

Griff Grof

Pinswell Loop

Pinswell Loop, 7 caches, 5.5 miles. First cache: GC4AW5D 

After reading tarmacjohn's post on CacheWalker, branding this series as "fantastic", I knew it was a must-do (TJ's recommendations never disappoint!) Therefore, within a few days, we set off to tackle what looked to be a great series. 

What a sunny day! Warm too! The day looked to be promising as we approached #1, where we meet a pair of cachers, Sulis and Asparagus. A quick chat and we went our separate ways, leaving the cache for us to find above a river, which was sparkling and glistening under the sun. This already looked to be a cracker! 

On we continued, approaching #2. Ah, we had heard about this one: Only three finds found up to now, and seven attempts. Of course, we had caught up with Sulis and Asparagus, who had been searching extensively for ten minutes now. We joined in, and together the four of us had to admit defeat after another half hour. As we proceeded, I sent a text to tarmacjohn, hoping he'd read it to be able to give us a hint - perhaps we'd be able to come back upon completion, as GZ was right by a minor road. 

The views were very rewarding as we continued along Norbury Camp, an Iron Age hill fort. 

And the walk just got better the further we went along: The caches maintained their good standard, whilst the views improved. Had never cached around here before, but am certainly going to do so again, this is such a lovely, picturesque and untouched part of Gloucestershire! 

About half way round, the sound of the tri-tone on my phone was a welcome one, as I took it off standby to see that tarmacjohn had texted me - with a little hint for that elusive second cache! Woohoo! We hoped that we'd see Sulis and Asparagus again to be able to pass the hint on so they could find the cache, and we did! Surprisingly, they turned around to go back to it, rather than to drive to it at the end - oh well, I guess the walk was so beautiful that they wanted to enjoy what had been a particularly special stretch from another perspective (reverse). 

Several caches on the series (and some extras) and more super views later, and we were back in the village where we parked. Prior to driving up the lane to grab #2, we popped in to the pub where we cooled down with an ice-cold drink to reflect on what had been one of the best walks we've done in a while!

Using the hint, we were able to now promptly find the cache - what a clever hide, you really do have to think out of the box! Glad to see Sulis and Asparagus's names in the log too! 

As I've said, a great series, highly recommended!  

Griff Grof

Some Devonshire caching

West Alvington Stroll, 4 miles, 15 caches. First cache: GC3BPWZ

Down in Devon for the weekend for family matters, and we planned to sneakily squeeze in a local series of caches to complete early Saturday morning.

We chose the West Alvington Stroll, taking off from Kingsbridge. As my dad knows the area especially well, he suggested this walk would be a cracker; I could certainly tell so by some of the contour lines on the OS map! In addition, it was (by far) the sunniest day of the year so far, therefore I was especially hyped as we parked at the village hall and set off, as a whole family, on this loop!

We were greeted by a friendly cat, and we wondered if s/he'd ever part our sides as she followed us long past #1, but eventually parted ways with us (never actually noticed when s/he vanished!)

There were serval sneaky hides as we continued along the route. But I almost forgot about caching as I got lost in the amazing views; this really is a lovely corner of the country. Living in the Midlands, there's also some overwhelming feeling every time you see the sea, and this was certainly the case on this walk, parts of which circled Collapit creek.

My favourite part of the walk was the descent down towards the estuary. The views were best here, panoramic and captivating:

Image taken from Cache Gallery, Geocaching.com, uploaded by user on 01/04/12. Unfortunately, I was too busy enjoying the views, and forgot to take out the camera! Obviously it was far sunnier when we did the series, and the views I describe were even better further up!

We soon faced a challenge: we had been teased with the same cattle field being in our sight the whole way, and now we had to cross it. For those of you who don't know, we dislike cows. Never have before. If you want to know why we do now, find my blog post from 27th October 2010 on here! - let's just put it this way: we were chased by a herd of them in to a river. I had never been directly through a cattle field since. But now we had no choice. This is getting a bit dramatic, right? Well, luckily they caused us no problem, and we were rewarded with more good views at the top of the hill, but, sadly, not with the cache. We knew it was a challenging one, but we simply couldn't spot it.

So on we continued, crossing Collapit Creek, idyllic under the shining sun, taking in even more views (now across the valley over to Kingsbridge) on the homeward stretch; a nice, sneaky hide to finish things off. 

In conclusion, a throughly enjoyable series: good range in cache containers, superb views all the way round and a good mix of terrain. Highly recommended. 

~

Before the day was out, we joined the wider family for a pub dinner on the shores of Slapton Sands as the sun set. Quickly popped out to grab the adjacent Earthcache, which I really enjoyed, being a Geography enthusiast! 

I'll have to make sure next time we're down here to squeeze in some more caching, as we had a great time this time round!

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

Grafton Loop

Grafton Loop, 5 miles, 27 caches. First cache: GC48326

Saw this series pop up last night: I was firstly intrigued by the number of caches, (there usually aren't that many on any series in this area!) but secondly by the CO, unowho67, and the location... I'm sure, as cachers, we all have a place, where we found caches moons ago, which brings a smile back to our faces upon reminiscence. For me, Himbleton is such a place; my first proper cache series was Himbleton Hide, by unowho67 themselves. So it was a no-brainer deciding which series to do this weekend: no, it wasn't the best series I've done, but I couldn't wait to trek up the footpaths we strolled along three years ago - it was sure to bring back pleasant caching memories!

We arrived at the church car-park at 14:00 - I was shocked to see so many cars parked, several of which were housing familiar faces enjoying their lunches. They told us that it was a surprisingly good series compared to Himbleton, and so my expectations were raised!

A brilliant hide to start with, just a couple of metres from where we parked, and then we were off!
Of course, with a generous quantity of caches, not all of them could be like this - most of the norm followed, i.e lock 'n' lock boxes and film canisters. Nevertheless, the walk remained enjoyable - we soon passed through a field home to some lambs - the first we've seen this year; none in the Cotswolds (that we know of!) at this point in the year...

Unlike Himbleton, there were a few (very gentle) inclines, but these offered rewarding views for the little effort we had to put in: it made the walk all the more pleasant! 

For us, the highlight of the walk had to be the part of the series which took us through Grafton Wood - the sun was out by this point, and we could only imagine how stunning the wood would be with the bluebells, and further in to the warmer months. We met a fellow cacher at this point, Spunky Spider, who was completing the remainder of the series in reverse (he had grabbed some of the caches as FTFs last night!). 

Overall, this series was a welcome surprise: whilst reminding me why I enjoyed Himbleton so much - sound containers which were quick and easy to find - it exceeded my expectations in being a more pleasant walk, with some views along the way, and a real gem-of-a-wood... we must return to see it in full bloom! 

A must-do if looking to cache in the area. We were back at the car door within just over 2 hours. 

Griff Grof